The Somme, 90 Years Later

I've never been all that interested in World War I. It just seems a huge, bloody enterprise that in the end achieved nothing. But today is the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme. The battle seems quite emblematic of the war. 142 days of intense, continuous battle, over a million casualties. The result: a battle line that moved 5 miles. The BBC has a series of articles remembering the opening of that battle, and more about the war in general.