Coventry's Blitz

by David McGrory

'I was happy that Coventry was selected as a target, as it was an important military objective... The night was clear and flying was easy. Missing the target was practically impossible.' Field-Marshal Kesselring, describing the air raid of 14 November 1940. Between 1940 and 1942 the people of Coventry were subjected to continued and devastating attacks by the Luftwaffe, leaving 1,252 dead, 1,859 injured and a city in ruins. Written by local historian David McGrory, Coventry's Blitz is the first full account of the blitz that blighted Coventry during the Second World War, commemorating its seventy-fifth anniversary. The book tells the story of the city and its residents throughout the war, starting with the digging of the shelters in 1938 to the last bombs in 1942 and Goering and Kesselring's comments on the November raid at the Nuremberg Trials. Coventry's Blitz uses new sources, material and memories from people all over the world to bring the events between 1938 and 1945 to life, events that changed the face of the city and made it what it is today. Richly illustrated with previously unseen archive photography, the book is a must-read for the people of Coventry and its visitors, offering a unique insight into the defining moments of the city's past.

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2015

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a long book and very detailed but of much more interest to familites who had relatives living in Coventry at the time. Lots of mentions of various names doing various jobs but if you have no connection to them it can be a bit onerous to read them all - although the eye witness accounts are very interesting. I think it could have done more about the Coventry Blitz's part in the history of WW2 and the changes that were made to the city as a result.

[Milly Wonford · Rating 4 out of 5]

David McGrory's first instalment about Coventry's history of war started with Coventry's Blitz. I know it's an old cliché to say that a history book is 'well-researched', 'well-written' and 'in-depth', but the fact is, this is. And not just all three of those things, but it's humorous and entertaining, at times making me giggle and smile, as well as human. It's not a given that history books takes on a personality just because they are written about a person or a point in time, but what McGrory does really well is give his books character, mostly with the help of personal family anecdotes, stories of locals and his informal, light-hearted approach to writing.

His inclusion of some truly fantastic images add to this effect ten-fold, and sometimes I found myself skipping text just to intensely study them, trying to work out where it was taken (if no information was given) and what that places looks like now; what are the people in them thinking about; what's happened to them; and the one question that strikes me most is, why are they smiling? I often wonder what people thought about during the war. Was that it for 6 years? Or was life more normal than we expect it to be?

I recommend this to anyone who lives in Coventry. It's not just a history book. It's an incredible tribute to the city and the people in it. To others, the outsiders, perhaps it is just a history book, documenting events and lives and destruction. But to me, it's a very carefully written documentation of destruction. By chronologically describing the events, it somehow tells a more harrowing tale, like when fiction builds up to the climax.

This is a terrific book that highlights how Coventry is saturated in a rich and colourful history.

I could only give 4 stars because I can't stand the over-use of exclamation marks. Pedantic, I know.