The testament of youth book

Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. Aug 01, 2014 testament of youth is a searing story of love and war. The third book testament of experience covers 19251950. Testament of youth by vera brittaindiana athill first read vera brittains wartime memoir when it was published in 1933 and found the author tiresomely selfimportant and melodramatic. An autobiographical study of the years 19001925 virago classic nonfiction by vera brittain january 1, 2004 paperback 1 jan 1704 4. 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. The determination to work hard and to plan out the days so that each moment would be occupied became singularly hard to fulfil, for i could not open a book without finding some subject that i had discussed with roland or seeing words which reminded me of his characteristic phrases. The most important thing that the reader learns about world.

Oct 29, 2015 does the electronic version of the book completely replace the paper version. The film was released in wide distribution in the uk on 16 january 2015. The new film testament of youth takes a different view. Testament of youth excerpts vancouver island university. Simon potter begins with his own testament to vera brittains memoir, testament of youth. Testament of youth is vera brittains memoir of her years just prior to, during, and shortly after world war i. Testament of youth is the first book in the overall memoir of vera brittain, an english nurse, writer, and pacifist. I could not even seek solitude in a favourite refuge beyond the. Kit harington, colin morgan, taron egerton interviews testament of youth full press conference duration. When it was finally published in august 1933, the book was an instant hit. Testament of youth is a marvellous book and very famous too, so it hardly needs boosting from me. Many elements are lost for testament of youth poor malta. However, more than eighty years after it was written, there are no doubt younger people who have never heard of it and older people who have it gathering dust on one their shelves a classic, admired, but not read.

Testament of youth, one of the most famous autobiographies of the first world war, is brittains account of how she survived those agonising years. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 688 pages and is available in paperback format. Much of what we know and feel about the first world war we owe to brittains testament of youth. Jan 16, 2015 i first read testament of youth during university and was captivated by the emotionally moving reallife story of love and loss during war. But never the less its taken 30 years to embed testament of youth in the canon of first world war literature. Published in 1933, testament of youth by vera brittain is a memoir of the authors young life. I finished this book a few months ago and found it wasnt as intense as testament of youth, the powerful memoir of brittains experience during wwi.

Testament of youth by vera brittaindiana athill first read vera brittains wartime memoir when it was published in 1933 and found the author. Instead, i was left smiling and coveting that holtby left such an impression on brittain, inspiring her to write and paint a most beautiful picture of their relationship. But many rereadings, and the shifting perspective that comes with encroaching years, have convinced me that the book is deceptively candidnot a simple. In testament of youth, a nurse tells the story of world war i. Testament of youth, by vera brittain hoover institution. More information about this seller contact this seller 20.

Testament of youth by vera brittain 1933 literary ladies. Does the electronic version of the book completely replace the paper version. Testament of youth by vera brittain is a book whose deep significance can hardly be overestimated. I would not have read the book if it wasnt chosen by my reading the world group, but i am so glad that it was because the book is phenomenal. Jul 17, 2014 testament of youth by vera brittain simon potter the coming weeks, thinking faith will contribute to the favourite piece of world war i literature, and well be recommending to you a mixture of popular and lesserknown texts. At the beginning of the book i grew weary of all the anger expressed by ms brittain. Vera brittain lost her fiance, brother and two closest male friends in the first world war.

The testament of youth community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. The first edition of the novel was published in august 28th 1933, and was written by vera brittain. Such interest is set to expand even more in this centenary year of the wars outbreak. Best of all, if after reading an e book, you buy a paper version of testament of youth. She wrote testament of youth as a cry of outrage and agony, so that the futility of their deaths would. Based on the classic first world war memoir, this is the incredible true story of one. I hadnt studied the first world war at school even in the 1970s the curriculum was unhealthily naziobsessed. Best of all, if after reading an ebook, you buy a paper version of testament of youth. With the outbreak of the second world war, brittains. Brittains memoir continues with testament of experience, published in 1957, and encompassing the years 19251950. It is tragic her generation lost so much of their youth, but her anger at her. It is a unique look at the war from the perspective of a woman who gave up her studies at oxford to serve as a nurse in france and malta. Read the book on paper it is quite a powerful experience.

Though often remembered as one of a very few world. Free download or read online testament of youth pdf epub book. Testament of youth is a memoir written by vera brittain, first published in 1933, and deals with the authors life during world war i. A british woman recalls coming of age during world war i a story of young love, the futility of war, and how to make sense of the darkest times. Brittain, vera, williams, shirley, bostridge, mark. Testament of youth is a powerful coming of age story which tackles love, war, loss and remembrance. Testament of youth by vera brittain simon potter the coming weeks, thinking faith will contribute to the favourite piece of world war i literature, and well be recommending to you a mixture of popular and lesserknown texts. Testament of youth is both a record of what she lived through and an elegy for a vanished generation. Vera brittain and the first world war tells the remarkable story of the author behind testament of youth whilst charting the books ascent to become one of the most loved memoirs of the first world war period. An exlibrary book and may have standard library stamps andor stickers. It is no accident that vera brittain began writing testament of youth, her peerless memoir of. Testament of youth is a searing story of love and war.

Testament of youth is the story of the loss of an entire generations youth and innocence to the shattering tragedy of world war i 19141918. In every respect, testament of youth is an extraordinary bookone of the few that we have from a womans point of view. Testament of youth a sony pictures classics release. A book by mark bostridge, titled vera brittain and the first world war.

The book was an instant success, with all 3,000 printed copies selling out on publication day. Pdf testament of youth book by vera brittain free download. The book includes a chapter on the making of the film. Of importance in its historical aspect, it is also a spiritual record of impelling power. Testament of youth is a powerful comingofage story which tackles love, war, loss and remembrance. Testament of youth quotes showing of 56 there seemed to be nothing left in the world, for i felt that roland had taken with him all my future and edward all my past. That republication, along with the bbc television series in 1979 really established the book. An autobiographical story of the war generation of england moving, beautiful, and tragic. Testament of youth by vera brittain, 9780349010274, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide.

Jul 25, 2016 kit harington, colin morgan, taron egerton interviews testament of youth full press conference duration. Vera brittain, quote from testament of youth when i was a girl. Vera brittains testament of youth is a book that is deeply important to me, but it is also a book i wrestle with. About the author 1994 vera brittain 18931970 served as a nurse in the british armed forces in world war i and afterward devoted herself to the causes of peace and feminism. I havent read it yet, but im certain it covers her experience in marriage and motherhood, as well as international affairs, including world war ii. Aug 02, 2015 bostridge has now given us an excellent short book, which puts testament of youth in the context of all this additional material while also serving up some priceless up close and personal. May 31, 2005 testament of youth is a marvellous book and very famous too, so it hardly needs boosting from me. With alicia vikander, kit harington, taron egerton, dominic west. Vera brittain wrote several volumes to document her life experiences, including one about her later.

Over the next six years, testament of youth sold 120,000 copies. Hailed by the times literary supplement as a book that helped both form and define the mood of its time, it speaks to any generation that has been irrevocably changed by war. Much of what we know and feel about the first world war we owe. Testament of youth is the first instalment, covering 19001925, in the memoir of vera brittain 18931970. This classic memoir of the first world war is now a major motion. By wars end she had lost virtually everyone she loved. At the close of publication day, its first printrun of 3,000 had sold out. The second in the trilogy testament of friendship covers 19251935.

I remember when i read the book, i mean, i knew the facts of the war. When virago republished testament of youth in 1978, it sent the book back into the bestseller list again. Testament of youth was written by a woman approaching 40 who had spent some 17 years coming to terms with her singular experience of the. I always thought of testament of youth as a war book, but this book is in fact much more than that yes, the central part of the book which consists of three parts does recount vera brittains first hand experience of the western front, where she served as a voluntary aid detachment. In this elegiac yet unsparing memoir, brittain focused on the men and women who came of age as war broke out, exploring their politics, their hopes, and their fatal idealism. This 54page guide for testament of youth by vera brittain includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 12 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. Mar 23, 20 vera brittain lost her fiance, brother and two closest male friends in the first world war. Testament of youth project gutenberg selfpublishing. The memoir spurred me on to read more about vera brittain, particularly during the world war i period that is the setting of testament of youth. Between these two books comes testament of friendship published in.

Dealing with the war period, it is unlike any other story of those years. Hailed by the times literary suplement as a book that helped both form and define the mood of its time, it speaks to any generation that has been irrevocably changed by war. I knew nearly nothing about the book, up to and including the fact that it was a memoir of ww1. This edition features a new introduction by brittains biographer. The popularity of testament of youth waned somewhat after world war ii, and even though the british broadcast company adapted the book into a documentary series on the 50th anniversary of the start of world war i, brittains masterpiece fell to the wayside of popular culture. Testament of youth pdf download full download pdf book. Based on the classic first world war memoir, this is the incredible true story of one young womans struggle to survive the horrors of war. Testament of youth is a powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the first world war memoir by vera brittain, which has become the classic testimony of that war from a womans point. If you are wondering what happens to her, she wrote a sequel of sorts titled testament of experience, which chronicles the years 19331950. An autobiographical study of the years 19001925 by vera brittain. Its based on the beloved ww1 memoir by vera brittain, which was a bestseller on publication, heralded as the voice of a generation and has become the classic testimony of that war, from a womans point of view. Between these two books comes testament of friendship published in 1940, which is essentially a memoir of brittains close colleague and.

Testament of youth starring alicia vikander and kit harington, testament of youth is an incredibly moving true account of war from a womans point of view. When i first read testament of youth, i was 23the same age vera was in 1917and i accepted the story as she told it. The story of testament of youth, was published by bloomsbury publishing on 4 december 2014. Testament of youth is a powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the first world war memoir by vera brittain, which has become the classic testimony of that war from a womans point of view.

It covers her earlier life from 19001925, working as a nurse during the first world war. Testament of youth is a powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the first world war memoir by vera brittain, which has become the classic testimony of. I imagined that life was individual, ones own affair. The main characters of this non fiction, history story are. In testament of youth, the words seemed to pour out of her, a potent mixture of rage and loss, underpinned by lively intelligence and fervent pacifist beliefs. Much of what we know and feel about the first world war we owe to vera brittains elegiac yet unsparing book, which set a standard for. Testament of youth is a wonderful book, one which you will read again and again, and all the more moving because it is a true story. In 1933 she published testament of youth, the first of three books dealing with her experience of war.