I have been trying to find suggestions for good Canadian literature! Which one is your very favorite concerning WWI? What is "Somme" about?

@Frances, I'd say Vimy or Canada's Great War Album are my favourites ones about WW1. "Somme" is about the entire campaign of the Battle of the Somme. It's a pretty awesome book since it covers all of the Allied and Axis armies that were there and even talks about J.R.R Tolkien at one point (he served as an officer during WW1)

@Nicole Armas, wow the entire campaign of the Somme? That must be super intense. Tolkien is one of my very favorite authors ever but the more I have learned about his experiences in WWI, honestly I believe his creation of Middle Earth was partially a reaction to an untreated case of PTSD. I really believe he wrote to help him cope with the horror of what he saw. I mean come on, the Dead Marshes in Lord of the Rings is totally a mirror of No Man's Land.

@Frances, I can believe that! The book talks about how Tolkien's experiences made their way into his writing. The Dead Marshes being one of them for sure. The book also suggests that the four hobbits (especially Frodo) were a representation of how soldiers dealt with their time at war after it was over. Pippin and Merry moved on and turned their negative experiences into positive things, Sam moved on as if nothing happened, while Frodo could never move on and was haunted by what he experienced.

@Nicole Armas, You know that makes perfect sense. I always thought it was interesting how Bilbo and Frodo contrasted in how they handled the trauma in their lives and I wondered if that was how he observed fellow veterans. Makes perfect sense.

I recently saw a REALLY good documentary on youtube that interviewed quite a few British veterans from the Somme. I found it really interesting how each of them dealt with what they had experienced so differently. Its a very good piece if you are interested, its from the early nineties. I was totally sucked in. It's called "A Game of Ghosts".

@Frances, Bilbo and Frodo certainly do contrast. I find when you consider Tolkien's service in the war with The Lord of the Rings, everything seems to take on a different meaning.

That sounds like a really awesome documentary! I'll have to look that up!