Vera Brittain: A Life

(Paperback)

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The definitive biography of Vera Brittain, acclaimed author of Testament of Youth. With a new introduction by Mark Bostridge.

'Riveting and authoritative' Kate Figes, Independent on Sunday

'Honest, precise and smart' Natasha Walter, Guardian

'They succeed triumphantly... A fascinating portrait' Fiona MacCarthy, Observer

Vera Brittain is most widely known as the woman who immortalized a lost generation in her haunting autobiography of the Great War, Testament of Youth.

This biography is the most comprehensive, authoritative life of one of the most remarkable women of her time. Based on unpublished papers and first-hand knowledge, the authors create a candid and sympathetic portrait of the writer, pacifist and feminist. They reveal the truth about Vera Brittain's 'semi-detached' marriage, her friendship with Winifred Holtby, and her relationships with her brother Edward and fiance Roland Leighton, killed in the First World War, memories of whom haunted her all her days.

Shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize, the NCR Non-Fiction Prize and the Fawcett Prize.

Reviews

This thoughtful portrait of a dauntless feminist and pacifist combines the readability of a novel with the authenticity of fact -- Lyndall Gordon * Independent *
Riveting and authoritative -- Kate Figes * Independent on Sunday *
They are honest, precise and smart ... They give her to us physically ... And they give her to us emotionally -- Natasha Walter * Guardian *
They succeed triumphantly... A fascinating portrait -- Fiona MacCarthy * Observer *

Author Bio

Paul Berry was Vera Brittain's close friend for twenty-eight years and was her Literary Executor. He was the joint editor of Testament of a Generation: The Journalism of Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby. He died in 1999.

Mark Bostridge is a former research assistant to Shirley Williams and author of the bestelling Letters from a Lost Generation, the award-winning Florence Nightingale: The Woman and Her Legend and The Fateful Year: England 1914.