Letters from a Lost Generation [Paperback]

Alan Bishop (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999

This is a selection of letters, written between 1913 to 1918, between Vera Brittain and four young men - her fiance (Roland Leighton), her brother Edward, and their close friends, Victor Richardson and Geoffrey Thurlow. The letters present a portrait of five young people caught up in the cataclysm of total war. Roland, nicknamed "Monseigneur", is the leader, and his letters most clearly trace the path which led from idealism to disillusionment. Edward, known as "Immaculate of the Trenches", was the more orderly and controlled one - even down to his attire. Geoffrey, the "non-militarist at heart", had not rushed to enlist, but felt compelled to put aside his objections to the war for patriotism's sake and volunteer. Victor, on the other hand, had wanted to convince himself that he could take on the mantle of the warrior and become a military hero. Possessed of sweetness of character, he was known to his friends as "Father Confessor".

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The events set in motion by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 changed many lives irrevocably. For Vera Brittain, an Oxford undergraduate who left her studies to volunteer as a nurse in military hospitals in England and France, the war was a shattering experience; she not only witnessed the horrors inflicted by combat through her work, but she lost the four men closest to her at that time--her fiancé, Roland Leighton, brother Edward, and two close friends, Geoffrey Thurlow and Victor Nicholson, who all died on the battlefield.

Letters from a Lost Generation, a collection of previously unpublished correspondence between Brittain and these young men--all public schoolboys at the start of the war--chronicles her relationship with them, and reveals "the old lie," the idealized glory of patriotic duty that was soon overtaken by the grim reality of the Flanders trenches. The letters are lively, dramatic, immediate and, despite the awfulness of war, curiously optimistic: "Somehow I feel the end is not destined to be here and now. We have not fulfilled ourselves--and someday we shall live our roseate poem through," wrote Vera in one of her last letters to Roland in December 1915, just days before he was killed by a sniper's bullet. Following his death, and later those of their mutual friends Victor and Geoffrey, Vera's letters take on a new, raw intensity as she concentrates all her emotions on her brother--a hero awarded the Military Cross--until his death on the Italian Front in June 1918. These letters formed the basis of Vera Brittain's remarkable autobiography, Testament of Youth, and vividly bring to life the voices of the lost generation whose words threaten to be lost forever as the First World War recedes even further from living memory. --Catherine Taylor, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

This book is a collection of letters written from 1913 to 1918 between Vera Brittain and her brother, her fiance, and two other friends. Some of the letters were included in Vera Brittain's classic account of her wartime experience, Testament of Youth (Penguin, 1994. reprint), but most of them are now being published for the first time. The letters provide insight into the youth of the day and how their feelings and emotions developed during the war, turning from idealism to disillusionment to an acceptance of death. The collection is unique because these letters span the entire war, showing both male and female perspectives. By the end, you know the people, feel their tragedy, and see hope change to despair as loved ones are killed. Bishop is the editor of three volumes of Brittain's diaries, and Bostridge is the coauthor of Vera Brittain: A Life (LJ 4/1/96). The collection is easy to read, with notes to explain unfamiliar terms and historical events. Recommended for all libraries.?Mary F. Salony, West Virginia Northern Community Coll. Lib., Wheeling
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown UK; New edition edition (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0349111529
• ISBN-13: 978-0349111520
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,458,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a moving and mesmerizing book, worth every penny, June 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Letters From A Lost Generation: First World War Letters of Vera Brittain and Four Friends (Hardcover)

I have been interested in Vera Brittain since her autobiography, Testament of Youth, was featured on Masterpiece Theatre in the 70s. I came across this new book by chance when looking for Testament, which my book group is reading and enjoying this month. This collection of letters not only recaptures Vera, her brother, and three close friends, it adds great dimension to their WWI experience. This is a book I will treasure a long time.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WW1, first hand, September 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Letters From A Lost Generation: First World War Letters of Vera Brittain and Four Friends (Hardcover)

Anyone who is interested in WW1 and the men and women who lived it, should read this account of the war first hand!

This is what the war really meant to people, both in and out of the trenches, for these are the letters written from and to them.

A thought provoking book, that it is true, is even more shocking.

It is about a generation of people that we should never forget.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars real war letters, June 27, 2003

By 

Schmerguls "schmerguls" (Sioux City, Ia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Letters From A Lost Generation: First World War Letters of Vera Brittain and Four Friends (Hardcover)

Ever since 14 July 1988 when I read Chronicle of Youth with absorbed attention and keen feeling I have been fascinated by Vera Brittain. This fine work, without duplicating Chronicle of Youth, sets out the letters written by her and her brother and friends till all her correspondents were killed in the war. This is a poignant work, well worth reading. One stands amazed and impressed by the eagerness of these Englishmen to serve their country, even though they knew the hell that the Western Front was, and though so much was repellant about the condition under which they soldiered.