When World War I broke out in 1914, fiercely patriotic The Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling encouraged his 17yearold son, John, to fight for their country. John did just that, and in August of the next year, now a fullytrained soldier in the Irish Guard, he made his way to France where his father was already working as a war correspondent. John Kipling kept in touch with his parents by letter, and Rudyard Kipling wrote back to his son daily, as evidenced by the following exchange. Tragically, just a month after arriving in France, weeks after his 18th birthday, John Kipling was killed at the Battle of Loos. Two months later, presuming the death of his son, Kipling wrote to his close friend, Colonel Lionel Charles Dunsterville.

This heartbreaking series of letters is read by Colin Firth and Taron Edgerton.