mhurst Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 If you wrote it you can sign it. There is an author who chased me down the drive demanding I allow him to sign his book, I think it was only half in jest. A friend who had written a (non- military) book had signed so many copies for friends that he said (only half jokingly) that the unsigned copies would one day be worth more than the signed ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 First cracked I believe by that about that lying old PM Edward Heath and his book Morning Cloud (which I have long wondered reflected the reputation of that oval cigarette Passing Cloud)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 A friend who had written a (non- military) book had signed so many copies for friends that he said (only half jokingly) that the unsigned copies would one day be worth more than the signed ones. I think our very own Mr Morse's book on the 9th Sherwood Foresters falls into that category. I have to say I still find Covenant with Death pretty well un-put-downable. As Mr Filsell says, the author's WW2 genre is pretty good, too - Swordpoint (a river crossing in Italy) is also a ruddy good read. Most of his work is essentially pulp fiction, but pulp fiction of quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 I have long taken the view that the only worthwhile novels about the War were those written from personal experience. The highest praise I can give to Harris is that I assumed him to be a much older man who had written a roman à clef. My own paperback copy disintegrated about 35 years ago - I am inspired to acquire another now. My recollection is a bit hazy - I seem to recall thinking that the book was based on the Sheffield City Battalion ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 16 October , 2013 Share Posted 16 October , 2013 Harris was a newspaper reporter in Sheffield and the story is largely based on the Sheffield City Battalion with elements of the Accrington Pals thrown in. Some of the placenames are only thinly disguised e.g Blackmires instead of Redmires. The setting of the final attack is clearly the ridge at Serre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 According to Amazon's website, this is due to be reissued in paperback early next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 the author's WW2 genre is pretty good, too - Swordpoint (a river crossing in Italy) is also a ruddy good read. Most of his work is essentially pulp fiction, but pulp fiction of quality. Thank you, I have been racking my brains for the title of this book. Just ordered a signed 1st ed off ABE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 By the way here's a CWD, I have no connection with seller. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/COVENANT-WITH-DEATH-John-Harris-Battle-of-the-Somme-Vintage-Arrow-Books-pb-/201087641451?pt=Fiction&hash=item2ed1c1e76b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhurst Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 I first read this book at the tender age of thirteen, and was rather shocked by a reference to a certain feature of the female anatomy, during a bawdy exchange between the volunteers when they were still undergoing training in England. When I re-read the book nearly fifty years later I was intrigued to find out whether my memory had played tricks (not for the first time) or was that lewd mention still there. It was not, so either a have, as I've long suspected, less marbles than I used to have, or the publishers of the reprinted version saw fit to remove this passage, as the rest of the dialogue between the characters is pretty tame by the standards of real soldiers, I would imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyH Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 Covenant with Death Recently re-issued in a WW1 centenary edition and available on Amazon at £7.66. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyH Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 Covenant with Death Ooops, release date this book 26th March 2015, my error. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalyback Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 Picked it up for a quid in West Wales in paperback and its signed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 15 May , 2014 Share Posted 15 May , 2014 A real bargain I its a hardback - check out the prices on Amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 15 May , 2014 Share Posted 15 May , 2014 Picked it up for a quid in West Wales in paperback and its signed! Don't you just love opening a cheap book and finding the authors handwritten name. Although I did put down a signed copy of Monica's Story, I thought the hand that held that pen....yeuch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalyback Posted 15 May , 2014 Share Posted 15 May , 2014 I picked it up and thought, how much is this going to cost. To see £1 in pencil was a bonus, as the book budget went on beer in the pub up the road. Newport, Pembroke. Lovely place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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