Now a major motion picture starring Alicia Vikander; Kit Harington; Hayley Atwell; and Taron Egerton In 1915 Vera Brittain abandoned her studies at Oxford to enlist as a nurse in the armed forces; serving in London; in Malta; and at the Western Front in France. By war’s end; all those closest to her were dead; and she had witnessed firsthand the destruction and suffering of modern combat. Much of what we know and feel about the First World War we owe to Brittain’s Testament of Youth. 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. Acclaimed by the Times Literary Supplement as a book that helped “both form and define the mood of its time;†this searing portrait is also a testament to every generation irrevocably changed by war.
#177833 in Books Penguin Classic 2012-06-26 2012-06-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.90 x .90 x 5.20l; .60 #File Name: 0143106775416 pages
Review
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. The Promised LandBy DI bought this book for a course that I will be taking net month. The delivery and condition of the book were as advertised. Thanks1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I enjoyed both voicesBy James Hercules SuttonThere are two voices in this book; one is that of a brash; opinionated; precocious; ambitious; egotistical; social climbing teenager growing up Jewish in Czarist Russia and coming of age as an immigrant in Boston. The other is a the voice of an adult exulting in the spirit of America and dedicating herself to helping others. The first voice may have been reprised from a diary; because of its tone and detail. The second belongs to the author's present; because it's richer and wiser. Both are true; and both are self-aware manifestations of a self performing for itself; greedy for praise; aching to justify sacrifices made on her behalf by immigrant parents--the story of America at the end of the Nineteenth Century. I enjoyed both voices. Her neighborhood was mine; Ward 8 of the South End; before it was destroyed by urban renewal. She repaired for solace and inspiration to the same bridge where kids in my set jumped into Ft. Point Channel; before it was polluted beyond use; she visited the same settlement houses. I knew where she lived; shared the view of the lumberyard from her window; heard the same streetcars she heard on the way to the trolley barn; heard the same sounds across air shafts; labored to justify parents like hers. My house and street also no longer exist. Her story is my story and that of all urchins who rose from the slums or perished in it.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I loved this bookBy Girl EmpoweredCan't believe this book has never been reviewed. I was just looking it up to buy a copy for a friend. I loved this book. It's a charming story written through a young girl's eyes (the author's) about her journey coming to America. So refreshing and charming with wonderful vocabulary. It's a classic American immigrant story.
