Vera Brittain and the First World War: The Story of Testament of Youth

by Mark Bostridge

Vera Brittain and the First World War tells the remarkable story of the author behind Testament of Youth whilst charting the book's ascent to become one of the most loved memoirs of the First World War period. Such interest is set to expand even more in this centenary year of the war's outbreak.

In the midst of her studies at Oxford when war broke out across Europe, Vera Brittain left university in 1915 to become a V.A.D (Voluntary Aid Detachment) nurse, treating soldiers in London, Malta and Etaples in France. The events of the First World War were to have an enormous impact on her life. Four of Brittain's closest friends including her fiancé Roland Leighton and her brother Edward Brittain MC were killed in action, sparking a lifelong commitment to pacifism. In 1933 she published Testament of Youth, the first of three books dealing with her experience of war. In equal measures courageous, tragic and deeply fascinating, Testament of Youth is one of the most compelling and important works of war literature ever to have been written by a British woman.

Mark Bostridge's Vera Brittain and the First World War, published to coincide with the film of Testament of Youth, explores the effects of the First World War on Vera Brittain, both in terms of her personal life and in terms of its effect on her development as a writer and her eventual decision to become a pacifist. Taking advantage of the interest generated by the film, it will bring her story to a new generation and incorporate the most up-to-date research. It will also include a short essay 'From Book to Film', describing the process of turning Testament of Youth into a major feature film. This will include interviews with the production staff and actors, as well as with members of Vera Brittain's family, including Shirley Williams.

The film, which has been scripted by Juliette Towhidi and is being produced by BBC Films and Heyday Films, the makers of Harry Potter, is currently in production. Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) stars as Brittain, with Kit Harington (Game of Thrones, Pompeii) playing her fiancé Roland Leighton.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, World War I, Audiobook, War, Biography Memoir

272 pages, Hardcover

First published December 4, 2014

Reviews

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book not only tells Vera Brittain’s experiences during WWI but also chronicles her journey to writing and publishing Testament of Youth and how that memoir was made into a tv miniseries as well as a feature length film.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having watched the recent movie Testament of Youth I wanted to learn more about Vera Brittain and this is my starting point.

[Susan Liston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more of an introduction to Vera, as she's been ingrained in my psyche for many years, most of this was familiar to me. With information about the film productions and places of interest, etc., it functions for me as a sort of Vera Brittain companion.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing but generally, a re-telling of the previous work. The most note worthy item is the follow-up/discovery of Edward Brittain's final days in battle and his tragic death in 1918.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm half-and-half about it, because the last half of this small book is not about Vera Brittain but about adaptations of her book "Testament of Youth" and about Mr. Bostridge's working relationships with Brittain's children/grandchildren and his co-biographer of Vera Brittain : a Life, Paul Berry.

The first half - about Vera Brittain's life as a Voluntary Aid nurse in World War I - the story I wanted to read - is too short, and as much about her brother Edward and his friends (one her fiance) who were killed in the War as about her. (There is a section about Edward's death in the "Afterward". He may have "sought death rather than dishonour" because of "that which does not speak its name".) A reference here and there as to what may have changed Vera from a patriot to a pacifist; but it was apparently a long journey that Mr. Bostridge did not wish to describe in this book. I'll see if he did in his biography of her. The first half, to me, was more about literary influences than a meat and marrow study of her life.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a shorter book than the Goodreads page count suggests. The first four chapters tell the story of Vera Brittain through World War One and then into the period post-war when she wrote the book and how it came to be what it is. Bostridge uses these section both as biography and also to point out the discrepancies between Brittain's account in Testament of Youth and that of her contemporary thoughts as outlined in her letters and diaries. For example the role she played in getting her brother to join up and her time at Etaple.

I don't think these are necessary bad things. Are we the same person at 19 that we were when we were 25? Let alone when we get to 50. Plus time distorts memory. How much of these changes were conscious and how many are not is moot.

The book, whose subtitle is 'The Story of Testament of Youth' then goes on to take us through the book's development in a TV series, a ballet, and a film. This book was published in 2014 just before the film came out and serves - to some degree - as a film tie-in. A bit like the book that came out when Dunkirk was released. It gives you the historical background to contextualise the film.

There's a chapter on the mysteries surrounding the death of her brother in Italy, which also sees Bostridge explain how he ended up writing (with Paul Berry) Vera Brittain's biography. I won't spoil this, because it is worth reading the full explanation and following the process that Bostridge went through to reach what I think is the correct conclusion.

There's then a Gazetteer of places associated with Vera Brittain, which is useful if you want to trail her through life. It would involve some travelling but a number of the places are in London. Then there's a further reading list, which is useful if you're rabbit holing Vera Brittain's life.

So, it is a surprisingly quick read. Bostridge's writing is clear and sharp and this is a little bit of a memoir of his Vera Brittain life too. Despite my faint praise this is a good companion piece to Testament of Youth.

[S.E. Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've given this four stars but really it's three and a half. It is unremarkable, and lightweight at first and summarises the book, but if you've just read Vera's own weighty autobiography that seems pointless. The photographs seemed identical too. I nearly stopped reading after the author started burbling about his contribution to yet another screenplay and which minor actress would play Vera.It seemed yet another movie tie in. However it was saved by two important revelations, one at the very end. I was loosing interest by then and I might easily have discarded it and missed an important section.
I'd felt when I read ToY years ago the last section of didn't work at all, and the man she marries was a cipher. There was also quite a mystery about the details of her brother Edward's death in Italy. This book and indeed it was Mr Bostridge's work gets to the bottom of both those issues. Edward's death was such a tragedy. I'm not sure if it's a spoiler to explain why, so will leave it there.

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s so fascinating to get a glimpse of a lady’s life during the World War I. Vera Brittain was a lady ahead of her time.

This book gives an insight from Vera’s early life to the making of the film “Testament of Youth” (2014) based on her bestselling war memoir with the same title.

It’s insane how similar the movie was to Vera’s own story. Hats off to the producers and writers of the movie! (Though I do know some changes were made for the sake of the movie but most of the events and facts were the same and it’s just *chef’s kiss*)

Highly recommend this to everyone!

[Lisa Allen Thakur · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book, made better by generous quotes from Vera Brittain's own writing. Now I need to actually read The Testament of Youth, when I have the time!

[Andrea L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

My bad for thinking it was her novel. Instead it was her life story & I thought it was tedious. I started skimming it about halfway through. She wasn’t an interesting figure to me.

[Lindsey Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I intended to read the Testament of Youth novel penned by Vera Brittain herself. This was an accidental read. I’m so glad it happened. Through sheer luck, I ended up reading exactly what I had intended to – the story about what happened to Vera Brittain and all that she endured during the First World War.

Having seen the film, I knew I was letting myself in for a heart-breaking tale. I was aware of some of the losses in her life. While there has been some cinematic changes for the screen, the real story is no less of a tragedy. But what Bostridge portrays is how Vera struggled to actually get herself heard in a time that was meant for men. Disobeying the rules and regulations of nursing to be with the ones she cares about shows a depth to her character that somehow, the film missed. She was prepared to literally do whatever it took to be where she felt she was needed the most.

Despite the tragedy of the content, the book is written in such a way that it is engaging and keeps you page turning. Bostridge tells Vera’s story by making her the heroine of this tale, making the reader empathise with her in a way you would if she was a character in a fictional novel. He doesn’t shy away from her faults but presents a real woman – an important distinction reminding us she existed.

This is the first biography I have read for a long time. Bostridge has encouraged me to seek out more, giving a glimpse into the past that makes the reader feel like they knew Vera herself. It opens up a time of war, not by presenting the battles but by showing the heart-break for those left behind and what it meant to be a woman in the First World War. For anyone interested in either this time period or feminism itself – or even Vera Brittain – then this book is a must read.

Full Review

[Jill Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vera Brittain was the author of "Testament of Youth", an autobiographical work about her life in the Great War and the lives and deaths of four men in battle. The four men were her brother, Edward; her fiance Roland; and two close friends. They were the War Generation; a generation of men killed or wounded in battle. "Testament" was published to great acclaim in 1933 and is still in print. It is one of the first books on the Great War written by a woman. The book was made into a 5 part BBC miniseries in 1979 and a filmed version has just been released.

And now a look at Vera Brittain, her life and those of the four men featured in the book, and on the making of the movie version, has been written by British author Mark Bostridge. The book, "Vera Brittain and the First World War: The Story of Testament of Youth", is a masterful work, drawing on his larger, earlier biography of Brittain, and incorporating the logistics of the film-making.

Vera Brittain was born into an upper middle class family in 1893. She had one younger brother, Edward, to whom she was very close. She valued education in a family where, typically, only the male members were considered to be worth university educating. She eventually went to Oxford, but dropped out to do war work when Britain went to war. Edward and three friends all joined up and all ended up dying either in battle or as a result of wounds suffered in battle. One of the four was her fiance, poet Roland Leighton, whose love she cherished. (Curiously, Leighton's last letter to Vera before he was killed, seemed a bit ambivalent about their future together. Did he love her or was he trying to break off the relationship?)

Mark Bostridge;s book is an excellent look at Vera Brittain and the War Generation, as depicted in print and on film. He's an easy and smooth writer and the book is good addition to the Great War books being published during these 100th anniversary years.

[Hugh Coverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved Testament of Youth from the summer of 1980 when the acclaimed mini-series aired on CBC Television. In subsequent years I have read the book and related materials, including several biographies of Vera Brittain. It remains an inspirational book, despite the sadness and tragedy that dominates it.

In this book, essentially a movie tie-in, Mark Bostridge provides a substantial summary of Testament of Youth, along with a brief introduction to the critical history of Vera Brittain's classic book, and descriptions of the several film and theatrical productions of it. It ends with an Afterward in which Bostridge relates the hidden history surrounding the death of Vera's brother Edward in June 1918.

I didn't like the 2014 film treatment, primarily because I wasn't convinced of the intense love and devotion that existed between the central characters, which was beautifully portrayed in the 1979 mini-series. For fans of Testament of Youth, the added materials provide more insight into a story that will endure and inspire others for decades and centuries to come.

[Caity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly informative about Vera Brittain and her work. Very generalised and lots of overviews of things. No specifics

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good insights to the film, which I really enjoyed. Now to read Testament of Youth.