Testament of Youth

Vera Brittain

Jul 2009 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

'A haunting elegy for a lost generation' THE TIMES

This classic memoir of the First World War - including an afterword by Kate Mosse OBE.

'Sublimely moving... this is a truly great book' DAILY MAIL

'A heartbreaking account of the impact of the First World War' SUNDAY TIMES

'Vera Brittain's heart-rending account of the way her generation's lives changed is still as shocking and moving as ever' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH STELLA MAGAZINE

In 1914 Vera Brittain was 20, 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 would have been 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 those agonising years; 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, and has lost none of its power to shock, move and enthral readers since its first publication in 1933.

Ratings and reviews

This is a nice autobiography written by author. I was so indulge in this book that I couldn't resist myself from reading and read whole book in 1 day. It's full of excitement, poetic and that's what I love about this book. I would recommend this to every book lover to read this book and feel the difference.

I read this about 20 years ago, it is a powerful piece of writing and it affected me greatly. How did that generation get through those dreadful years with the massive loss and terrible heartache for all the families? Its a book to read at this centenary of the great war.

Abracar o mundo inteiro com o amor e carrinho vera k todos teus sonhos tornara real porque sem mal algum niguem pode te desejar caregar diabo pelas Costas.

About the author

Born in 1893, Vera Brittain won an exhibition to Somerville College, Oxford, in 1914, but a year later abandoned her studies to enlist as a VAD nurse. She served throughout the war, working in London, Malta and close to the Front in France. At the end of the war, with all of those closest to her dead, she returned to Oxford.

Vera Brittain was a convinced pacifist, a prolific speaker, lecturer, journalist and writer, she devoted much of her energy to the causes of peace and feminism. She wrote 29 books in all, novels, poetry, biography and autobiography, but it was TESTAMENT OF YOUTH which established her reputation and made her one of the best-loved writers of her time. She died in 1970.