Pining for Rome

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New Aerial Footage of Europe after WWI

Traveling through Europe it is sometimes easy to forget that the continent suffered through two enormous wars in the last century.  Villages have been rebuilt.  Roads are well-maintained.  And then you pass a cemetery... or a bombed out cathedral... and images of trenches, mustard gas, tanks, and bombers come flooding back.

The BBC has a new film, The First World War from Above, which features incredible new arial footage taken in 1919.  The war has ended, and the photographer documents the destruction of villages and fields, homes and churches, as he flies over the countryside.

For those of us in the States: no news yet on if the entire documentary will be shown on BBC America.  But even the trailer is remarkable...