Customer Reviews

Covenant with Death

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I can't praise this book enough. For anyone who wishes to gain an insight into the 'Pals' Batallions of WW1 this is the way to do it. Based on the Sheffield City Batallion, this is historically accurate. Names of people and some locations have been changed, other than that, it could have been written by someone who was there. The work of a master.

The author paints a picture of life in a northern industrial town in England at the outbreak of World War One. We are introduced to many characters, all of whom join a "Pal's Battalion". The story follows to group from training on their local moorland to deployment in Egypt, where they are tasked with guarding the Suez canal. The group bemoans the fact that the "real" war in France and Belgium will be over before they can put their training into action. Soon enough though, they do indeed find themselves in the trenches of France. From then on, the true horror of war comes into play as they take casualties. However, this is only a taste of the horror that waits them as they take part in "The Big Push". Many were, and rightly so, horrified at the Omaha Beach scenes in "Saving Private Ryan". If "Covenant with Death" was made into a movie in a true and graphic reproduction of the events this book portrays, "Ryan" would seem very tame indeed.

A great book.