My guest this week is the author Anthony Seldon, author of a number of bestselling books on British Prime Ministers. His latest book is a departure, though, and is an account of his walk along the Western Front Way, tracing the trenches from Switzerland to the Belgian coast.

We talk about why the Great War has that emotional pull, his inspiration in setting the walk up, and we talk about British Prime Ministers whose sons were killed in the war, or who were affected by the conflict.

This episode makes a good companion piece to my talk with Gary Sheffield on the history of the First World War, although with Anthony the discussion is more about the emotions the war prompts.

There’s also short trailer at the end for another podcast from friend and author Giles Milton, so do listen to that.