Covenant with Death
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Get 3 months for £0.99/mo
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Narrated by:
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Mike Rogers
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By:
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John Harris
About this listen
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 ongoing 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.
©1961 John Harris (P)2014 Hachette AudioFor my money it is the best war novel ever written and I would love to see it as a TV series as well.
Great story
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Colleagues from a newspaper in a Yorkshire city (not named but clearly Sheffield) are imbued with patriotism at the outbreak of war. As they train, face the inevitability of fighting and then arrive, eventually, on the Western Front, the scales gradually clear from their eyes as they realise that the only way this war will be over by Christmas is for them personally, by bullet, shell or bayonet.
It is a story of comradeship, naivety, duty and, above all, courage. Two years in the making, ten minutes on the destroying. That was the history of the Pals Battalions on the first day on the Somme, encapsulated in this book. Mike Rogers' laconic delivery suits the character of the protagonist, Mark Fenner, to a tee.
It is an epic sorry with an emotionally charged finale. Listen and remember.
Classic War story
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Incredibly moving
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If you liked Birdsong, this is for you
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As good as ever
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