Neil Anderson is a British writer, historian and journalist. He worked as a columnist for the Sheffield Telegraph. Anderson has written numerous books including SheffieldâÂÂs Date With Hitler, Signing On For the Devil, and Take It to the Limit. He is also known for his Dirty Stop OutâÂÂs Guide series of the British cities. His research on the Sheffield Blitz formed the basis of the BBC One Sheffield The Forgotten Blitz documentary.
Anderson was born in Sheffield, and attended Sheffield Hallam University.
While attending university, Anderson got a job at Sheffield City Hall in its publicity office. After graduating, he continued to work for city hall until 2000, later moving in the press office.
Anderson worked at the Sheffield Telegraph as a columnist for more than 10 years and also wrote for other publications, including The Independent and The Big Issue. He is also a regular contributor to the music magazine Vive Le Rock.
In 1995, Anderson began work on the Dirty Stop OutâÂÂs Guide of Sheffield documenting the city's cultural life, night life, and venues. This led to a series of Dirty Stop OutâÂÂs Guide series including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Coventry, Barnsley and Chesterfield. In 2010, Anderson published Take It to the Limit about the Sheffield club The Limit, which operated on the city's West Street from 1978 to 1991. The same year, he also wrote Signing on for the Devil, chronicling Sheffield's heavy metal music scene in the 1980s.
To coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Sheffield Blitz, Anderson wrote the book Sheffield's Date With Hitler (2010). The book would later form the basis of the BBC One documentary Sheffield The Forgotten Blitz.