Books on Coventry

No less than two new Coventry books are coming out on August 15th and are available to pre-order from Amberley Books. Coventry's Blitz by David McGrory, paperback, 128 pages, 60 pics, £11.69. Coventry Buses 1914-46 by David Harvey, paperback, 192 pages, 250 pics, £14.39. The latter is now shown at £8.99 but I'm told this is an error.

I would imagine Coventry Blitz will just be a re hash of all the information already in published books. All the same photographs.... I would imagine that all that can be said about the blitz has already been said.. Is it time to put the whole subject to bed?..Perhaps our teenagers may be interested but that's doubtful. For myself who was 10 years old and living in Coventry at the time, the subject has become a tad tiresome..

Perhaps Rob knows more about David McGrory's book?

Well lets hope so MR....If it is something different I may coax a few bob out of my pocket.

You're quite right MR, thank you, so I hope you all don't mind me intervening here before too many assumptions are made. Yes, I can definitely reassure you that the blitz book isn't just a re-hash, although I'll agree that there have been a few such examples over the years. I've read the original draft of this book and prepared all the images to be used; not only is there some new material covering lesser-known facts, including transcriptions of German preparations for the raid, but there are many never-seen-before photos, too, including fascinating glimpses inside the police control room and the Dornier that was brought down - the only German plane not to make it back that night. One thing that David always tries to do with a book is introduce new facts, and verify them too, rather than simply read other books and compile the best bits, as many other authors do. One mistake has already been pointed out to me by Dave though - despite him spelling Stevenson Road correctly in the chapter titles, the publishers have typed it as Stephenson Road. Grrrrr!.

Thanks, Rob Remember this one!

Oh my word yes, I remember that book and those reviews! I hope that whoever wrote those scathing remarks did people a favour by saving them from wasting their money.... whoever they were!

Two excellent reviews

I recently bought a copy of "Air Raid - The Bombing of Coventry, 1940" by Norman Longmate and it is proving to be a very interesting book. When I mentioned it to my family, the first thing my son asked was whether he could read it after me. I was not born until well after the war, let alone my son, born well after me - but both of my parents - his grandparents were in the midst of the Coventry Blitz. In fact my mother's house in Foleshill took a direct hit from a flaming incendiary bomb that went straight through the roof! I am interested in what they experienced as are my children, and hopefully their children, because it is our family history. I therefore welcome any new books on such subjects. I have in fact written down what I know about my own family history so far in which my children have shown a tremendous interest. Hopefully they will carry this on.

There are a number of books on the Coventry we lost, but I have yet to see one showing the Coventry we gained. To some degree we are in the midst of the second re-incarnetion since the end of the war.

Pixrobin - I think you raise a very interesting point here. When considering what Coventry (or anywhere else) has lost or gained, we are only considering how it has changed, and everywhere changes constantly. One's own point of view is only an interpretation of these changes. However what makes it really complicated concerns the factors that contribute to one's own interpretation. We all attribute levels of importance to different things such as buildings, employment, environment, transport, heritage etc so one person's perception of loss may be another's gain in this context. This is why so much debate ensues when plans for change are put forward. Concerning reincarnation, the Phoenix on the Coat Of Arms shows the importance of this. However this also refers to transition which is constant as in my opinion Coventry, to use that well-worn phrase, "is what it is" today, and will be different tomorrow, just as it has always been.

For those who enjoy a good old fashioned history book, I can thoroughly recommend a 1952 publication called Old Coventry and Lady Godiva, by F. Bliss Burbidge, which is currently on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Old-Coventry-and-Lady-Godiva-Burbidge-F-Bliss-1111-ID-96734-/381313786549 It's one of my favourite old books, very well written and entertaining and, in my opinion, well worth the asking price of £21.

Agree interesting point. In the late 1960`s, I worked in Coventry with an immigrant from Hull, who had settled here with his family. when I moaned in my normal fashion about how they were getting rid of "Old Coventry" and the lack of "atmosphere" etc. He was very quick to point out that the place was like a breath of fresh air to him, with all the interesting new buildings such as the new Swimming Baths and the New Cathedral and there was plenty to show off to his friends and family when they visited. I wonder what would be his opinion now, 50 years later.

I now have a taster of a few pages of Coventry's Blitz by David McGrory for you to preview. Although the blitz itself is obviously the major subject, the book covers the whole war period from the early preparations to the aftermath. Each scan will open in a new tab or window.... Page 54 -- Page 55 -- Page 56 -- Page 57 And here's a double page with a couple of very rare photographs....

The 2-Tone scene is one thing. Born out of the racism of the seventies (during which time there were racially motivated murders) and the unemployment and associated devastation of the city's jobs market. Songs like Ghost Town and Concrete Jungle (an autobiographical tale of moving from the suburbs into the inner city of Coventry) are record of that time. This is what cities should be about, culture and arts from the grass-roots. And part of this was also a consequence of the landscape of the city, so you could say that this also led to something good. I think it might be happening again with places like Fargo Village. It seems that there is a desire for something different, and it's clear the council are too far up their own master plans to understand that maybe a few small tweaks here and there can make a huge difference - so we're getting two new music venues down there, and there is also the Tin Angel as well (a record label and venue, I recently bought one of their records, a folk/rock album by a group called Trembling Bells.) Belgrade Theatre in its time has been a recognised centre for new plays (I don't think it is any more) and a few famous shows began there. Even the post-war reconstruction was once famous and influential. Some would say 'Unfortunately' (I imagine the authors of, 'The Rape of Britain' would do so!)