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Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925 (Virago classic non-fiction) | 
 enlarge | Author: Vera Brittain
Creators: Shirley Williams, Mark Bostridge
Publisher: Virago Press Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £4.52
You Save: £8.47 (65%)
New (18) Used (10) from £4.50
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 891
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Edition with new cover
Pages: 640
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.7
ISBN: 0860680355
EAN: 9780860680352
ASIN: 0860680355
Publication Date: January 1, 1933
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1914 Vera Brittain was 21 years old, and an undergraduate student at Somerville College, Oxford. When war broke out in August of that year, Brittain "temporarily" disrupted her studies to enrol as a volunteer nurse, nursing casualties both in England and on the Western Front. The next four years were to cause a deep rupture in Brittain's life, as she witnessed not only the horrors of war first hand, but also experienced the quadruple loss of her fiance, her brother, and two close friends. Testament of Youth is a powerfully written, unsentimental memoir which has continued to move and enthral readers since its first publication in 1933. Brittain, a pacifist since her First World War experiences, prefaces the book with a fairy tale, in which Catherine, the heroine, encounters a fairy godmother and is given the choice of having either a happy youth or a happy old age. She selects the latter and so her fate is determined: "Now this woman," warns the tale, "was the destiny of poor Catherine." And we find as we delve deeper into the book that she was the destiny of poor Vera too.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 A must read book November 1, 2001
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
If you only read one book about the First World War, read this one. The true horror of the war is detailed, and it really makes you think about the loss and sacrifice.
I read this book first of all studying for my History degree,and I have re-read it many times since then.
Vera's life and what happened to her, and her friends has stayed with me always, and I have now encouraged other people to read it too.
A classic: shattering at times, always enlightening May 23, 2004
R. S. Stanier (London)
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
Vera Brittain's account was written in the early 1930s, as she tried to make sense of the extraordinary bereavement that affected those of her generation who survived the First World War.
Growing up in provincial Edwardian England, a fascinating piece of writing in itself, she falls in love with one of her brothers's friends in 1914. The romance is going well, until the outbreak of war sweeps in to disrupt her life. Suddenly the love of her life, as well as her brother and some other close friends, are all in the trenches, trying to live out the noble heroic dream on behalf of King and Country.
Unable to support directly, she joins the nursing corps as a volunteer but there is no consolation for her as first her fiance, then her friends and finally her brother die.
Her account of desolation when she receives the news each time is traumatising and shows a side of life you don't get from the war poems: the horror of war not from the front line, but from the perspective of almost continuous bereavement, among people who feel helpless and increasingly angry with the world. Her perspectives on daily life in London in the war years are as insightful as the descriptions of nursing in Malta and France, where she spent the bulk of her time. Certain details, such as the atmosphere behind the lines as the British wilt before the Ludendorff offensive, but are rallied by a missive from Field Marshall Haig will interest even those who know a lot about the history of it.
Yet it is the human story which is most powerful.
This is a brutally honest book, and she does not paint herself without warts: she is obsessive about academic study, has a mental breakdown after the war and doesn't make it easy on anyone courting her thereafter. Yet Brittain's problems outside the war, of a woman trying to combine a career with marriage, anticipate the great feminist struggles of the 20th and 21st centuries. Indeed, her honesty gives the book a raw truth.
Yet this is not just her story. As she herself writes, this is the story of a generation whose men were wiped out in battle and whose women were shattered by bereavement.
The book continues after the war following her work with the League of Nations until 1925 and this has only limited interest today: the really timeless passages come from earlier on. Profoundly affecting and profoundly insightful, in beautiful prose, this deserves its classic status.
A brilliant moving autobiography March 11, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is one of the most fasinating books about the first World War that I have ever read. It combines the history of the War with emotions and opinions that are all very moving to the reader. I strongly recommend reading this book, it will certaintly effect your attitude to the events of the 1st World War.
stick with it, an eye opening book February 26, 2003
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
i read this book for my alevel exam last year - my friends all thought i was strange due to the vast size of the book. but i am so glad that i stuck with it and read it! It made me feel humble, young people during the war , my age, had to do so much and people of my generation take things today for granted! yet back then people were glad to help, it was their duty. she went through so much at such a young age. i feel lucky to have experienced part of her life through her eyes. Please read this book and you will appreciate everything you take for granted!
An amazing story of love October 28, 2003
Eleanor O (London, UK)
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
I read this book for my A Levels, last year, as we were studying Worl War One Literature. Such a hefty tome looked completely imtimidating, but I decided to start anyway. I soon became completely engrossed in this book. Vera Brittains simple style is so poignant, and the heartrending events are described sensitively and with candour Vera tells of her feelings at the demands of her family, the war and her studies, culminating in the deaths of her brother, and her fiance Roland. The love between Roland and Vera is a pivotal part of this story, and to my mind is the epitome of true, optimistic, young love. The tragic event of his death and the sorrow Vera experiences throughout the war permeates the book. This is an amazing, inspiring book and should by read by anyone who beileves that world war one has no relevance to our lives now, or anyone interested in a woman's perspective on important historical events. Vera Brittain rules!!!! Seriously read this book, buy it now! :) The excellent poetry that preceeds each chapter is so deeply touching. Especially "Perhaps" written after Roland's death by Vera, which tells of her sadness, that she doesn't even notice the shining sun, or appreciate the beauty of nature which was so heightened previous to his death. Really excellent book; perhaps my all time favourite, and I have read a lot of books!
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