The BBC Singers are joined by critically acclaimed author, historian and educator Sir Anthony Seldon, as he recounts his 35-day pilgrimage on foot from the French-Swiss border to the English Channel. The route of his 1000 kilometre journey was inspired by a young British soldier of the First World War, Alexander Douglas Gillespie, who dreamed of creating a ‘Via Sacra’ that the men, women and children of Europe could walk to honour the fallen. Tragically, Gillespie was killed in action, his vision forgotten for a hundred years, until a chance discovery in the archive of one of England’s oldest schools galvanised Anthony into seeing the Via Sacra permanently established. Sir Anthony’s recollections are punctuated by reflective choral music reflecting the British, French and German loss of life in the 1st and 2nd World Wars.