Testament of Youth

I came to Testament of Youth by way of the classic BBC TV serialisation: Cheryl Campbell gave an outstanding performance as Vera Brittain.  I read the book shortly afterwards, and I've even seen a one-woman stage version.

The reviews for the new film version look good and I'll definitely see it- even though the film makers seem to have moved Somerville to Radcliffe Square and rebadged BNC:

The BBC filmed in Somerville, and there was some brilliant editing to make sure that the tracking shots did not pick up any of the new buildings.

An Amazing Memorial

I found this quite astonishing: a family in France has kept the bedroom of their son who was killed in WW1 exactly how it was since he died:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11162640/First-World-War-memorial-bedroom-to-fallen-French-soldier.html

This is just so much more personal than lists of names carved into stone memorials across Europe.

In Birdsong one of the most poignant sections s when one of the soldiers turns up again as a shell-shocked eteran in a care home, and to me this seems similar: the impact of the eventys ogf 1914-1918 do not end.