false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179605747m/936022.jpg 374388 11 When war broke out in August 1914, 21-year-old Vera Brittain was planning on enrolling at Somerville College, Oxford. Her father told her she wouldn't be able to go: "In a few months' time we should probably all find ourselves in the Workhouse!" he opined. Brittain had hoped to escape the Northern provinces, but the war seemingly dashed her plans. "It is not, perhaps, so very surprising that the War at first seemed to me an infuriating personal interruption rather than a world-wide catastrophe." <p> Her father eventually relented, however, and she was allowed to attend. By the end of her first year, she had fallen in love with a young soldier and resolved to become active in the war effort by volunteering as a nurse--turning her back on what she called her "provincial young-ladyhood." Brittain suffered through 12-hour days by reminding herself that nothing she endured was worse than what her fiancé, Roland, experienced in the trenches. Roland was expected home on leave for Christmas 1915; on December 26, Brittain received news that he had been killed at the front. Ten months later Brittain herself was sent to Malta and then to France to serve in the hospitals nearer the front, where she witnessed firsthand the horrors of battle. When peace finally came, Brittain had also lost her brother Edward and two close friends. As she walked the streets of London on November 11, 1918--Armistice Day--she felt alone in the crowds:<p> <blockquote> For the first time I realised, with all that full realisation meant, how completely everything that had hitherto made up my life had vanished with Edward and Roland, with Victor and Geoffrey. The War was over; a new age was beginning; but the dead were dead and would never return. </blockquote><p> First published in 1933, <I>Testament of Youth</I> established Brittain as one of the best-loved authors of her time. Her crisp, clear prose and searing honesty make this unsentimental memoir of a generation scarred by war a classic. <I>--Sunny Delaney</I> 364275 1978 Testament of Youth (Penguin Classics) total:225|5:92|4:77|3:46|2:8|1:2| 225 924 458 50 3 2 false false Tue Feb 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 05:29:36 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 17 20:22:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 true false Fri Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 12 16:01:34 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 31 09:07:32 -0800 2009 1 Graceann's "Testament of Youth" Review"

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More a book that you study and admire than love, but well worth the effort. A lot was...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1983 Tue Aug 21 07:20:02 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 21 07:25:59 -0700 2007
BT fans should contrast Vera's parents with the Ray/H...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 29 15:04:33 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 10:08:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Aug 25 17:35:20 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 21:58:56 -0700 2009 Full Text :COPYRIGHT 2003 Sunday Times

I have recently embarked on Anthony Powell's marvellous sequence of novels, A Dance to the Music of Time (Arrow). These are the best kind of books, I think: dense, subtle, ambitious, humane. I've had Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth (Virago)...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 01 09:44:36 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 10:18:01 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Dec 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 17 21:28:20 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 17 21:42:20 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Jul 30 11:24:44 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 07 08:32:31 -0700 2007 more...]]> 0 1 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Dec 12 02:39:20 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 12 02:46:45 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1978 Fri Apr 24 18:49:43 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 24 18:57:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri May 15 20:06:59 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 20:07:18 -0700 2009 Guardian review: "Brittain could indeed be self-important, but more to the point are her lively intelligence and genuine passion. She was brave, and her strong feelings would always express themselves in action. And she was honest....She did sometimes slip into over-writing, but she could most ...more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Apr 11 12:41:31 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 12:45:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Sep 22 00:00:00 -0700 1992 Wed Jun 10 09:16:40 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 04:30:34 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1980 Tue Aug 18 12:16:54 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 14:38:02 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1979 Sat Jan 31 13:02:46 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 13:02:46 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 03 23:23:42 -0700 2007 Tue May 06 17:05:45 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Mar 27 06:55:29 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 07:00:05 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1980 Mon Jun 22 19:00:15 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 19:02:03 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jun 23 01:45:02 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 01:46:05 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1982 Fri Apr 04 14:40:46 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 04 14:47:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=936022