A piece I received this morning. I awaited its arrival with both excitement and trepidation. Advance Warning: This book, an anti-war publication, features some very graphic photographs taken by correspondents during the First World War. I’ve omitted the grisliest ones, but I feel it is the duty of the collector to understand the horrible circumstances under which the things we collect were made and used.

‘Covenants with Death’ was published in 1934 by the Daily Express, a year that all of us on this forum will recognise the significance of. It was only one year after the coming to power of Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP, and many could already see storm clouds brewing on the horizon. In an effort to instill a feeling of disgust and distaste for further conflict in the minds of the populace, this book was put to print.
It is a pictorial piece, with very little text. Most of the photographs featured therein were rejected for wartime publication due to their excessively unpleasant nature. There are some ‘before and after’ pieces, which show the obliteration of land and life by massed artillery bombardments. I do not believe that a single page of this book is without a photograph of a human corpse.
It really brings forth in the mind the terrible cost of armed conflict. Seeing the bodies of so many young men scattered across fields and sprawled in trenches like rubbish, it conjures in the heart feelings of disgust, confusion, outright horror. Each body was a life, and each one a life snuffed out.

Unfortunately, as we know, this book and many others like it failed to do its job. Five years later, the world was once again at war.

I was at pains to decide which pages to photograph for display here. The last fifteen pages are preceded by a warning, and those pages were originally sealed with a star or red tape. It is those ones which I have avoided for a reason. They showcase some of the most brutal acts mankind can inflict on one another. Most feature the aftermath of executions, hanging bodies, the decayed remains of starved civilians. One which I found particularly difficult to look at was the result of a ‘Big Bertha’ bombardment on Paris. One shell happened to land on a maternity hospital, which was unfortunately occupied at the time.

It is, certainly, a very difficult book to look through. But it is this book, above all, that symbolises just why I have chosen this hobby over others. It is important to preserve the artifacts of terrible world conflicts, to carry the stories and the lessons they hold forwards. Because it is from said artifacts that we learn, and future generations ahead of us learn, the ultimate price we humans pay for brutalizing one another.

Photos follow. Rest assured, I have avoided photographing anything that might cause severe upset. I merely wish to showcase this book as an historical artifact, and hope that you all find it as interesting and poignant as I do.

Kindest Regards, B.B.