{"title":"Books by David McGrory","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781398118959","title":"Coventry at Work","description":"\u003cp\u003eCoventry has been a major centre of trade and industry since the Middle Ages. Medieval Coventry was known for making tiles, cloth, buckles, statues and stained glass. Other textile industries followed, the dyeing of cloth with the famous Coventry true blue and silk-weaving. Much later, in the twentieth century, Coventry became a pioneer of synthetic fibre manufacturing. Clock-making grew from the sixteenth century, and later watch-making – Dickens carried his Coventry watch until he died – and in the nineteenth century Coventry also became known for bike manufacture. This also led to Coventry becoming the hub of car manufacturing in the twentieth century. It was Coventry’s expertise in this area, as well as aircraft, military vehicles and armaments, that led to it being targeted by enemy bombing in the Second World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoventry at Work explores the working life of this city in the East Midlands and its people and the industries that have characterised it through the ages. This book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Coventry.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54926455144821,"sku":"9781398118959","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781398118959_a662f5b3-9684-4175-9bd0-584ab107a200.jpg?v=1786018133"},{"product_id":"9780750949262","title":"A Century of Coventry","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Century of Coventry\u003c\/em\u003e offers an insight into the daily lives and living conditions of local people and gives the reader glimpses and details of familiar places during a century of unprecedented change.\u003c\/strong\u003e Many aspects of Coventry's recent history are covered, famous occasions and individuals are remembered and the impact of national and international events is witnessed. \u003cem\u003eA Century of Coventry\u003c\/em\u003e provides a striking account of the changes that have so altered the city's appearance and records the process of transformation. Drawing on detailed local knowledge of the community, and illustrated with a wealth of black-and-white photographs, this book recalls what Coventry has lost in terms of buildings, traditions and ways of life. It also acknowledges the regeneration that has taken place and celebrates the character and energy of local people as they move through the first years of this new century.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294628327797,"sku":"9780750949262","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780750949262_5e7e4c61-6cf1-4a70-b344-eb7e419ffcec.jpg?v=1786015236"},{"product_id":"9781398110335","title":"Lost Coventry","description":"Coventry has been one of the most important cities in England since the Middle Ages. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Coventry became an industrial centre, renowned for clock and watch manufacturing and later for building cars, bicycles and aircraft. Its significance drew massive air attacks during the Second World War and the historic centre of Coventry was destroyed. The city was rebuilt in the post-war era, including a new cathedral, and the city boomed, then was hard hit by industrial decline in the late twentieth century, but recent decades have seen a gradual recovery, recognised with Coventry becoming the 2021 UK City of Culture.Lost Coventry presents a portrait of this corner of the East Midlands over the last century, showing not only industries and buildings that have gone but also people and street scenes, many popular places of entertainment and much more. This fascinating photographic history of lost Coventry will appeal to all those who live in the area or know it well, as well as those who remember it from previous decades.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298407002485,"sku":"9781398110335","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781398110335_52b62889-e69e-49d3-9268-1d40c3c3d89d.jpg?v=1786018603"},{"product_id":"9781780915715","title":"The Illustrated History of Coventry Suburbs to the end of the 20th Century.","description":"In the course of the last 150 years, the outskirts of the city have been transformed, and they have expanded, in a way that would astonish Coventry residents of just a few generations ago. In this detailed and fully illustrated account, David McGrory offers a concise history of each district, but he also features local anecdotes and myths and folklore, and he remembers remarkable, individuals who played their part in the story. Recalled in his account are the origins and development of districts as diverse as Gosford Green, Whoberly, Keresley, Wyken, Willenhall, Foleshill, Ash Green, Stoke Heath, Binley, Pinley, Earlsdon and Spon End. David McGrory's survey will be essential reading and reference for everyone who takes an interest in their neighbourhood and in the complex, surprising history of the city itself.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56304665592181,"sku":"9781780915715","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781780915715_633688ce-ae28-4f5a-90b2-90c4459a38c3.jpg?v=1786025508"},{"product_id":"9781398127944","title":"Quirky Coventry","description":"\u003cp\u003eCoventry has been an important settlement in the middle of England since the Middle Ages. To protest against the Saxon Earl Leofric’s taxation the legend arose of Lady Godiva’s naked ride through Coventry. Coventry grew in wealth through the mediaeval cloth trade, had its city walls destroyed during the Civil War because of its support for the Parliamentarians, then became the centre of new industries of ribbon weaving and clock-making and later, bicycle-making and motor manufacturing. Massive destruction of the historical city took place during the Blitz in the Second World War and a modernised, rebuilt city emerged in the later twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Quirky Coventry author David McGrory delves into the fascinating tales from Coventry’s past. In this book, readers will find stories of the original Peeping Tom, the origins of the saying ‘sent to Coventry’, the clerk who attempted to kill Edward III by witchcraft, an eighteenth century female soldier, curious buildings to be found in the city, the city’s mediaeval Mystery Plays, the development of Coventry’s unique dialect through time, a prehistoric elephant found on the site of a car factory and much, much more. Quirky Coventry celebrates the unusual and often strange history of Coventry and its characters over the years. This fascinating insight into Coventry will be of interest to all those who want to know more about the city’s quirky history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56420569350517,"sku":"9781398127944","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781398127944_9812c676-9d34-412a-bcb9-a4487a5fdcee.jpg?v=1786034284"},{"product_id":"coventrys-blitz","title":"Coventry's Blitz","description":"'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.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57484118131061,"sku":"9781445649993","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781445649993.jpg?v=1786266153"},{"product_id":"coventry-in-50-buildings","title":"Coventry in 50 Buildings","description":"Despite the attention of bombs and planners, Coventry still contains many fascinating buildings whose history in stone, brick and concrete has shaped the last thousand years. It is home to one of the world’s best-loved cathedrals and possibly the country’s best Guildhall. It changed the modern world with Europe’s first pedestrian precinct and has the country’s first post-war theatre. Coventry’s medieval Spon Street contains many timbered houses, including more Wealden Houses than any other street in England.Coventry in 50 Buildings examines the proud and distinctive history of the city through a selection of its greatest architectural treasures. From the city’s modern cathedral, built after the destruction by the Luftwaffe of the original fourteenth-century building, to the impressive new extension to the Herbert Gallery, this unique study celebrates the town’s architectural heritage in a new and accessible way. Local author and historian David McGrory guides the reader on a tour of the city’s remaining historic buildings and modern architectural marvels.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57705611592053,"sku":"9781445665788","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781445665788.jpg?v=1793377336"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-david-mcgrory.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}