(no subject)
I'm surprised at how few people I've seen around wearing poppies this year. There were a reasonable number of people wearing them in town at the weekend, but at work I've only seen one other person wearing a poppy. I do feel a little bit like the odd one out.
On a semi-related note, I've recently found a new book series to read: The Pendragon Adventure. In the series there's multiple worlds, linked by hidden magic gates. Each of these worlds is approaching a turning point which will radically alter the fate of not only that world, but all the worlds. Fortuantly each world has a Traveller who's jobs is to help guide the world to the good outcome, and can use the gates to get around between worlds. Unfortuantly there's a resident bad guy in the form of Saint Dane, who basically wants chaos. The books alternate between the viewpoint of Bobby Pendragon (a young Traveller from earth), and a couple of his friends back on Earth. The series was written by an American with the back-on-Earth segments set in New York, so it's chock full of Americanisms.
Anyway, book three of the series is actually about a turning point back on Earth, in 1937. The thing that surprised me is that while the Nazis are the obvious opponent of the book, it takes the main characters (who have travelled back in time from the present day) quite some time to realise this. Now in a British book with the same premise it'd be immediately obvious to them.
It got me wondering a bit about the impact of WW2 in different countries. In Britain you don't have to go far at all to find some sort of reminder - the countryside is littered with concrete pillboxes, every village has a war memorial, and they're *still* finding unexploded bombs every few months. But what about in other countries? Are there any physical reminders, or is it all just ancient history?
On a semi-related note, I've recently found a new book series to read: The Pendragon Adventure. In the series there's multiple worlds, linked by hidden magic gates. Each of these worlds is approaching a turning point which will radically alter the fate of not only that world, but all the worlds. Fortuantly each world has a Traveller who's jobs is to help guide the world to the good outcome, and can use the gates to get around between worlds. Unfortuantly there's a resident bad guy in the form of Saint Dane, who basically wants chaos. The books alternate between the viewpoint of Bobby Pendragon (a young Traveller from earth), and a couple of his friends back on Earth. The series was written by an American with the back-on-Earth segments set in New York, so it's chock full of Americanisms.
Anyway, book three of the series is actually about a turning point back on Earth, in 1937. The thing that surprised me is that while the Nazis are the obvious opponent of the book, it takes the main characters (who have travelled back in time from the present day) quite some time to realise this. Now in a British book with the same premise it'd be immediately obvious to them.
It got me wondering a bit about the impact of WW2 in different countries. In Britain you don't have to go far at all to find some sort of reminder - the countryside is littered with concrete pillboxes, every village has a war memorial, and they're *still* finding unexploded bombs every few months. But what about in other countries? Are there any physical reminders, or is it all just ancient history?