Items related to Covenant with Death
They joined for their country. They fought for each other.
When war breaks out in 1914, Mark Fenner and his Sheffield friends immediately flock to Kitchener's call. Amid waving flags and boozy celebration, the three men - Fen, his best friend Locky and self-assured Frank, rival for the woman Fen loves - enlist as volunteers to take on the Germans and win glory.
Through ramshackle training in sodden England and a stint in arid Egypt, rebellious but brave Fen proves himself to be a natural leader, only undermined by on-going friction with Frank. Headed by terse, tough Sergeant Major Bold, this group of young men form steel-strong bonds, and yearn to face the great adventure of the Western Front.
Then, on one summer's day in 1916, Fen and his band of brothers are sent to the Somme, and this very ordinary hero discovers what it means to fight for your life.
Stirringly told from the down-to-earth view of everyday soldiers, Covenant with Death is acclaimed as one of the greatest novels about war ever written.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
Laden with knowledge yet sparely written, Covenant with Death is the work of an author immersed in the lives of those who fought (The Times)
The last line 'Two years in the making. Ten minutes in the destroying. That was our history', ought to be carved in stone somewhere . . . Find it. Read it. You'll be a better person for having done so (Peter Hitchens Daily Mail)
The last line 'Two years in the making. Ten minutes in the destroying. That was our history', ought to be carved in stone somewhere . . . Find it. Read it. You'll be a better person for having done so (The Greatest War Novels of all Time Shortlist)
Covenant With Death . . . showed with unbearable actuality what happened to a newly formed Sheffield regiment on the first day of the battle of the Somme (Christopher Hitchens Guardian)
The blood and guts, the nightmare stink of cordite . . . appalling realism (The Times)
Only one novel about the war since 1945 has the power and feeling of veracity to compare with the works of the 1920s and 30s . . . Covenant with Death by John Harris (The Western Front Organisation)
A superb novel (Daily Mirror)
John Harris's neglected masterpiece of a novel, Covenant With Death, is the success that it is because it follows a group of Sheffield workers from their flag-waving sign-up to the hecatomb on the Somme (The Atlantic)
True and terrible (Observer)
An outstanding achievement (Sunday Express)
Book Description:
The last line 'Two years in the making. Ten minutes in the destroying. That was our history', ought to be carved in stone somewhere . . . Find it. Read it. You'll be a better person for having done so (Peter Hitchens Daily Mail)
The last line 'Two years in the making. Ten minutes in the destroying. That was our history', ought to be carved in stone somewhere . . . Find it. Read it. You'll be a better person for having done so (The Greatest War Novels of all Time Shortlist)
Covenant With Death . . . showed with unbearable actuality what happened to a newly formed Sheffield regiment on the first day of the battle of the Somme (Christopher Hitchens Guardian)
The blood and guts, the nightmare stink of cordite . . . appalling realism (The Times)
Only one novel about the war since 1945 has the power and feeling of veracity to compare with the works of the 1920s and 30s . . . Covenant with Death by John Harris (The Western Front Organisation)
A superb novel (Daily Mirror)
John Harris's neglected masterpiece of a novel, Covenant With Death, is the success that it is because it follows a group of Sheffield workers from their flag-waving sign-up to the hecatomb on the Somme (The Atlantic)
True and terrible (Observer)
An outstanding achievement (Sunday Express)
Discover one of the most authentic, moving and gripping portrayals of British soldiers ever written. This classic novel of the First World War appears in a new edition for the centenary of the conflict.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherSphere
- Publication date1960
- ISBN 10 0751557102
- ISBN 13 9780751557107
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages512
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