Vera Brittain - Softcover

Berry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1555535186 ISBN 13: 9781555535186

Publisher: Northeastern University Press, 2002

Synopsis

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. Paul Berry and Mark Bostridge provide 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, Berry and Bostridge chronicle her conservative and provincial upbringing, university education, and the devastating losses of her fiance, 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.

About this title

Review:

"A major biographical study was long overdue, and Paul Berry and Mark Bostridge have succeeded brilliantly in explaining the complications and inconsistencies of Vera Brittain's life in their carefully researched book. In particular, they elucidate her evolution from the naive patriot of 1914 to the resolute pacifist of 1939, and they explore her lifelong struggle to reconcile her femininity and desire for marriage on the one hand with her aspiration to independence and a career on the other." --Martin Pugh, Times Literary Supplement

About the Author:

Paul Berry was Vera Brittain's close friend for twenty-eight years and is her Literary Executor. He is the joint editor of Testament of Generation: The Journalism of Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby. He lives in Sussex. Mark Bostridge was educated at Westminster School and Oxford University, where he won the Gladstone Memorial Prize. A former research assistant to Shirley Williams, he has reviewed for The Times Literary Supplement, The Times Educational Supplement and the Literay Review. He currently works for BBC Television and lives in Richmond, Surrey.

About this edition

• Publisher: Northeastern University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1555535186
• ISBN 13: 9781555535186
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 581