First Impressions

This week's competition, in which you have to identify a book from its opening sentence, is from a novel about a mining community:

"Out on the open plain, on a starless, ink-dark night, a lone man was following the highway from Marchiennes to Montsou,..."

Entries, including postal address, should be sent to First Impressions, The THES , Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield, London E1W 1BX, faxed to 020 7782 3300 or emailed to theschat@thes.co.uk

The winner receives a £25 book token.

The closing date is February 24.

The winner of last week's competition, who identified Metamorphoses by Ovid, translated by David Raeburn, is John Hall, principal lecturer in computing at Bolton Institute.

THES (TSL Education Ltd) and its associated companies may from time to time wish to process, or disclose your data to approved third-party companies, in order to monitor our service and send you future promotions. If you do not wish us to do this, please notify us by writing 'No promotions' on your entry.