Coventry: The Making of a Modern City 1939-73

The German air raid on Coventry on November 14, 1940 was one of the most destructive of the second world war. Carried out by 515 German bombers, the “Coventry Blitz,” as it came to be known, largely demolished the ancient buildings of this medieval city in a single night. Its destruction, however, was seen as an opportunity by some, including the architect Donald Gibson. The result was the first of the master plans for post-war redevelopment of Britain’s bombed city centers.
           
The redevelopment of Coventry into an intensely urban city center helped to shape the rebuilding of other cities, both in England and throughout Europe. Coventry: The Making of a Modern City 1939–1973 provides an up-to-date, accessible introduction to Coventry’s post-war cityscape, describing key buildings and explaining their significance in Coventry’s modern history, as well as contextualizing each within the larger planning principles employed by Gibson and his successors.