Vera Brittain: A Life [Paperback]

Paul Berry (Author), Mark Bostridge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2002

Controversial writer, pacifist, and feminist, Vera Brittain (1893-1970) is best known as the author of Testament of Youth, the eloquent memoir of her World War I experiences that gave voice to a generation forever shattered and haunted by the Great War.

This authoritative biography provides a full and candid account of Brittain's life that alters in important respects the self-portrait she presented in Testament of Youth and her later autobiographical work, Testament of Experience. Drawing on a treasure trove of private family papers and memorabilia, Paul Berry and Mark Bostridge chronicle her conservative and provincial upbringing, university education, and the devastating losses of her fiancé, younger brother, and two friends in the first World War. They examine her struggles to become a successful writer, her close relationship with writer Winifred Holtby, her unconventional marriage to political scientist George Catlin, and her courageous stance against Britain's saturation bombing of Germany in World War II.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[The authors] have succeeded brilliantly in explaining the complications and inconsistencies of Vera Brittain's life in their carefully researched book. -- Martin Pugh, Times Literary Supplem ent

About the Author

Paul Berry was Vera Brittain's close friend for twenty-eight years and her literary executor. He was coeditor of Testament of a Generation: The Journalism of Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby. He died in 1999. Mark Bostridge was educated at Westminster School and Oxford University, where he won the Gladstone Memorial Prize. He is coeditor of Letters from a Lost Generation: First World War Letters of Vera Brittain and Four Friends, also published by Northeastern University Press. He lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern; Second Edition edition (May 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555535186
• ISBN-13: 978-1555535186
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #933,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique and outspoken woman's life, November 13, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vera Brittain: A Life (Paperback)

A collaboratively written biography by the late Paul Berry (who was Vera Brittain's close friend for 28 years and her literary executor) and London-based biographer Mark Bostridge, Vera Brittain: A Life is a lengthy and informative survey of the life and times of the writer, pacifist, and feminist Vera Brittain (1893-1970), who is perhaps best known as the author of "Testament of Youth," the memoir of her traumatic World War I experiences. The crushing loss of her fiance, younger brother, and two friends in World War I, her uphill battle to earn recognition as a writer, her controversial stance against the Allies' saturation bombing of Germany in World War II, and a great deal more are engagingly examined in thorough, candid detail. Vera Brittain is very highly recommended as a solidly written, deeply engaging, and totally involving study of a unique and outspoken woman's life.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars vera brittain : a life, December 31, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (johnstown, Pa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vera Brittain a Life (Hardcover)

It was quite an enjoyable read for us Brittain and Holtby fans. It interesting how she is still relevent in this day and age, how she really doesn't seem "dead" from a forgotten era. In this book you can find the little tidbits about Vera that speak to your own emotions even now, that make the person whole.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, June 20, 2006

By 

Anna Barbauld "Anna" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vera Brittain: A Life (Paperback)

A wonderful book - highly readable, authoritative, and immensely engaging. It was shortlisted for the two main non-fiction prizes of the year of its firat appearance in the UK.