Prominent people in a particular line of work read and reflect on the writings of an illustrious forebear of the same trade. The essays are partly about ideas and how they change, but also about the practice and the human experience of being a certain kind of thing; be it a teacher, a soldier a critic or a journalist.

Soldier and author Harry Parker, relives The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant, through the lens of his own experiences in Helmand province. Grant fought in the US Mexican War and then commanded the Union armies in the American Civil War. Reading Grant's spare prose Harry reflects on the changes in the way war is experienced, consumed and portrayed.

Producer: James Cook.