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Testament Of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925 (Virago classic non-fiction) [Paperback]

Shirley Williams (Foreword), Vera Brittain (Author), Mark Bostridge (Introduction)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 2004 | Series: Virago classic non-fiction

In 1914 Vera Brittain was eighteen and, as war was declared, she was preparing to study at Oxford. Four years later her life - and the life of her whole generation - had changed in a way that was unimaginable in the tranquil pre-war era.

TESTAMENT OF YOUTH, one of the most famous autobiographies of the First World War, is Brittain's account of how she survived the period; how she lost the man she loved; how she nursed the wounded and how she emerged into an altered world. A passionate record of a lost generation, it made Vera Brittain one of the best-loved writers of her time.

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Testament Of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925 (Virago classic non-fiction) + Goodbye to All That (Penguin Modern Classics) + All Quiet on the Western Front
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Product details

  • Paperback: 640 pages
  • Publisher: Virago; New Edition with new cover edition (2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0860680355
  • ISBN-13: 978-0860680352
  • Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 19.6 x 4.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 6,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Vera Brittain
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Product Description

Amazon 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 fiancé, 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.

Review

" Miss Brittain has written a book which stands alone among books written by women about the war." -- Sunday Times

" Today, Testament is firmly enshrined in the canon of the literature of the first world war.." -- Guardian, August 30, 2003

"Nothing else in the literature of the first world war charts so clearly the path leading from erosion of innocence.." -- Guardian, August 30, 2003

‘heartrending personal account of a generation of young men being killed on the Western Front in the First World War’ -- Sir Bernard Ingham, Sunday Express
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
When the Great War broke out, it came to me not as a superlative tragedy, but as an interruption of the most exasperating kind to my personal plans. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read book 1 Nov 2001
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
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.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars An essential book 28 Aug 2000
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I have just finished reading 'Testament of Youth' and thought you could hardly better the sense of experience, personal and national, that comes out of it. I come to the book from an 'autobiography' background, rather than of 'interest in the war' as such, and therefore to my mind the first two thirds of the book are best where Vera Brittain is conveying her personal experience and responses; I think she is less good in conveying her work for the League of Nations etc. But then, perhaps that is the point of it. As she says a couple of times in the text, these are experiences which I will never be able to overcome. Her courage in picking herself up after the war is fantastic, but you know in your heart that something has been lost in her forever. It was also very nice to read about a Buxton lass. I like Derbyshire & the Dales and I enjoyed the presentation of 'genteel' Buxton and her family and friends.
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A 'must read'. 4 April 2001
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Vera Brittain effectively conveys the anguish, pain, grief and helplessness of a civilian in times of war in a manner that I have not witnessed in any other account.

Having read this book twice I am not ashamed to admit that I wept on both occasions. I defy anyone to read Vera's biography with dry eyes.

By todays standards her prose may appear old-fashioned but it is extremely elegant and most effective considering her subject matter. The prosaic descriptions of her mental turmoil and sense of hopelessness contrast vividly with her determination and resolve to help alleviate the suffering of the soldiers by joining the nursing establishment at the front. Her inclusion of poems and letters within the text considerably aids the readers understanding of both her personal relationships and state of mind during this period.

Being well versed in the history, and statistics, of the Great War, I found 'Testament of Youth' extremely enlightening in terms of the personal suffering that was endured by individuals like Vera who were forever changed by the experience.

Perhaps, were it a prerequisite for aspiring politicions to read this book, our nations leaders may well find it a lot more difficult to commit a country to war.

This is an important book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars great
love anything to do with the war and this book is well worth the read, i have read it before but this is handy to have as a download.
Published 21 days ago by siobhan
1.0 out of 5 stars Non receipt of book
I have yet to receive this book. Can you please investigate this for me? Usually I have no problem receiving items. Thanks.
Published 1 month ago by francesca margereson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
I have read the book before and it left a lasting impression upon me. Vera Brittain was such a determined lady who had so many losses in her life. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pauline
4.0 out of 5 stars Thought Provoking
This book gives a clear picture of what it was like as a woman to live through World war 1.She goes to meet her fiancee,Roland,coming off leave at a railway station,only he doesnt... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mb Davis
5.0 out of 5 stars favourite read
I loved this book and have enjoyed reading it many times. I started nursing in the early sixties and could relate to some of it and will take it on holiday again
Published 1 month ago by marion moth
1.0 out of 5 stars Testament of endurance
I had to read this book as it was chosen at our book club. I have to say I did not enjoy it at all. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mumdupegge
5.0 out of 5 stars Testament of Youth
A thorough exposé of the futility of war, the pain of those left behind and the struggle of an intelligent young woman to have her voice heard in a male-dominated world... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Stumps
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely must read!
It is very well written in a style that is much more modern than the date of publication would suggest. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Martina Weitsch
5.0 out of 5 stars Looked forward to novel
I have been looking forward to reading this important novel for years. I have not done so yet but I am sure it will be as good as I am expecting it to be.
Published 3 months ago by cariad
3.0 out of 5 stars Needs a good edit
Read this for a Book Club and as one friend remarked she does make "an interesting life very boring." The whole book seems very old fashioned. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Lora
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