'48
By James Herbert
|
Date of Publication |
1996 |
|
Publisher |
Harper Collins |
|
Original cost of hardback first edition |
£16.99 |
|
International Standard Book Number (ISBN) |
0 00 224287 7 |
|
Original first print run (where known) |
Hardback - Unknown - Paperback - Unknown |
|
Name of hero in the book |
Hoke - (This book is written in the first person) |
|
Opening line of the book |
"What the hell was that?" |
|
General description of the dust cover |
At the bottom of the front of
the dust cover, after the author's name and book title are the words
"His heartstopping new bestseller" almost as a subtitle. The dust jacket images are credited to Tony Stone, the Hulton Getty collection, Slatter-Anderson and David Scutt. The story outline on the front flap of the dust cover is in three sections under three different headings. On the rear flap is a photograph of the author taken by Casey Herbert (his daughter) followed by a paragraph setting out some of his other books and achievements and saying that he has sold more than 37 million copies of his books worldwide. |
|
Number of pages and chapter details |
Story runs from page 7 to page
330. There are 29 chapters numbered as "1" to "29" and right at the end of the book there is an author's note about the research he had to do for the book. |
|
Dedication in book |
"For Kitty, who knew more than one Tyne Street. Love and appreciation from us all ..." (James Herbert's Mum) |
|
Roger's Review |
I was really looking forward to reading this as I knew this was very similar to 'Domain' (which is my favourite Herbert book). No rats in this one however, but it has a handful of survivors battling for survival in a post catastrophe London. Set in 1948 (surprise, surprise) James Herbert even manages to get his old childhood home - (Tyne Street, Whitechapel) into the story. It has to be said that I found the book to be somewhat disappointing. Parts of the plot were just so far fetched that it left questions in the reader's mind (how come the Blackshirts have survived the blood death for so long?). Many chapters had certain death climaxes which were resolved by unbelievable last minute get outs. The lead character of Hoke is said to have been based on Steve McQueen from the THE GREAT ESCAPE - my favourite film star in my all-time favourite film - check out my web sites at http://www.stevemcqueen.co.uk and http://www.stevemcqueen.org.uk if you don't believe me!). However, I don't want to be too negative about the book as it does have its good points and is quite exciting. It was just that I expected so much more from it. 6 out of 10. |
Click here to see the full first edition dust jacket from this book
