Few people so embodied both the siren song, and the sorrows of empire, as did the poet and storyteller Rudyard Kipling. His famous novels and short stories, such as "Kim", and "The Man Who Would Be King", turned the empire into a grand Boys' Own Adventure Story. And a poem such as "The White Man's Burden" made the case explicitly.

But his later life would bring home to him all too poignantly the price of that empire, both at home and abroad. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War, Kipling's only son, John, tried to enlist in the British Army, but was rejected on health grounds. Kipling used his influence to get his seventeen year old son a commission in the Irish Guards. Just six weeks after arriving in France, John Kipling was killed during the Battle of Loos.

The loss of his son hit Kipling hard. And his later works reflect a far more sombre mood. It's impossible to read his "Epitaphs of the War" as anything other than a self-indictment, with the famous lines:

If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.

Now Hello Magazine reports that British broadcaster ITV are producing a made for television film based on John Kipling, "My Boy Jack", and that none other than Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe. Radcliffe has been eager to broaden his acting beyond the type casting as the boy wizard. Having appeared nude in the play "Equus" on the London stage went a long way towards dispelling the child friendly image. This drama, which is sure to feature the carnage of the trench warfare of the Western Front, a nightmare in mud and blood unmatched in human history, will also be quite a ways off from Hogwarts.

Daniel - who when he turned 18 came into the £23 million fortune generated by playing Harry - has often spoken of his desire to play more varied and adult roles. And a personal interest in the First World War means he's particularly enthusiastic about the new project. "I've always been fascinated by the subject," he told one US magazine. "And I think it's as relevant today as it ever was."