North & South...

This film has nothing to do with the Civil War, but is definitely in the spirit of period costume dramas that I adore. And, again, the BBC just does a brilliant job here. This film is based on Elizabeth Gaskell's 19th century novel of the same name; she also wrote Wives and Daughters which has a BBC production of its own.

I was especially impressed by the depth of this story which includes themes that are very relevant today. Elizabeth Gaskell was not one of the Romantic writers but has a style very similar to Charles Dickens who was born just two years after Gaskell in 1812. They were both reformers who wrote very sympathetically of those in desperate conditions.

The script in this production is tight as a drum and the acting is spot on. Don't miss this one. (available through Netflix)

The "G" is for Guts...

I am amazed at the kinds of jobs given to very young people in war. This book is about the WW2 Glider Pilots whose job it was to fly large gliders loaded with fuel, troops, ammunition, food and supplies and crash land those gliders behind enemy lines and then fight their way out only to do the whole thing again.
This book shows the resolute courage of some of those pilots who remember still, the terrible cost of liberty.

Put this book on your July reading list.