Vera Brittain: a Life Free

His only sibling was his older sister Vera, to whom he was very close. Brittain was a good student, though seldom a prizewinner, at Uppingham and also served in the Officers' Training Corps. A talented violinist, he hoped to become a Vera Brittain: A Life, but his father expected him to enter either the family paper-making firm or the Civil Service. Brittain left school in Julyjust before the First World War broke out. He had been admitted to New College, Oxfordbut after the outbreak of hostilities he joined the British Army and was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant into the Sherwood Foresters Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment on 19 November During this period, he became close friends with fellow officer Geoffrey Thurlow. Leighton, who had been serving on the Western Frontdied of wounds in Decemberand soon afterwards, in earlyBrittain was posted to the Western Front. He was wounded in the left arm and the right thigh in the Battle of the Somme on 1 July He was subsequently awarded the Military Cross for his service on the Somme. The citation stated that Brittain was awarded the M. He was severely wounded, but continued to lead his men with great bravery and coolness until a second wound disabled him. Brittain remained in England, recuperating and then on light duty, until 30 June Thurlow was killed in action at Monchy-le-Preux in April ; Richardson Vera Brittain: A Life blinded at Arras in Apriland died from a Vera Brittain: A Life abscess in London in June These losses transformed Brittain, in his sister's words, into "an unfamiliar, frightening Edward, who never smiled or spoke except about trivial things Silent, uncommunicative, thrust in upon himself. His letters became increasingly critical of the conduct of the war. Vera Brittain was posted to a British hospital in northern Vera Brittain: A Life in Augustbut the siblings never managed to see each other in France. Brittain was made a temporary captain in August [5] and was sent to the Italian Front with the 11th Sherwood Foresters in November He saw his family for the last time on leave in January On 15 June on the Asiago Plateau, Captain Brittain was shot in the head and killed during an early morning counter-attack against an Austrian offensive, part of the Battle of the Piave River. In Junearmy censors had read a letter from Brittain that indicated he had had homosexual relations with men in his company. His commanding officerLieutenant Colonel Charles Hudsonwas notified that Brittain would be court-martialled when he came out of the line. Hudson was told not to warn Brittain, but he warned him obliquely anyway. His commanding officer believed that Brittain put himself in harm's way to avoid a court martial and the shame that this would bring upon his family. Edward's mother later revealed to Vera that Edward had been Vera Brittain: A Life in homosexual activities while at Uppingham. Hudson evaded Vera Brittain's questions when she visited him in hospital inbut told her of his suspicions after Testament of Youth was published in She was initially reluctant to believe that her brother had deliberately exposed himself to danger but eventually came around to his colonel's interpretation of events and fictionalised them in her novel Honourable Estate. While researching the authorised biography of Vera Brittain, Mark Bostridge tracked down Hudson's son Miles and was permitted to read Hudson's account of Edward Brittain's last Vera Brittain: A Life. Edward Brittain is commemorated along with Victor Richardson and Roland Leighton on Vera Brittain: A Life war memorial at St Barnabas Church, Hove ; this was the church attended by the Richardson family. In Vera Brittain: A Life film of Testament of Youth he was portrayed by Taron Egerton. In Toby's Rooma novel by Pat Barkerpublished inthe fate of the central character of Toby is based on that of Edward Brittain, though the source material is neither cited nor acknowledged. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Edward Brittain. The London Gazette Supplement. August Retrieved 27 May Retrieved 16 March Retrieved 21 September Namespaces Article Vera Brittain: A Life. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. British Army. Vera Brittain - Wikiquote

Vera Mary Brittain 29 December — 29 March was an English writer, feminist and pacifist, best remembered as the author of the best-selling memoir Testament of Youth, recounting her experiences during World War I and the beginning of her journey towards pacifism. Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Brittain was the Vera Brittain: A Life of a well-to-do family that owned paper mills in Hanley and Cheddleton. She had an uneventful childhood with her only brother her closest Vera Brittain: A Life. At 18 months her family moved to Macclesfield, Cheshire and when she was 11 they moved again, to Buxton in Derbyshire. From the age of thirteen she attended Vera Brittain: A Life school at St Monica's, Kingswood in Surrey where her aunt was principal. Studying English Literature at Somerville College, Oxford, she delayed her degree after one year in the summer of in order to work as a V. Their letters to each other are documented in the book Letters from a Lost Generation. Vera Brittain: A Life to Oxford after the war to read History, Brittain found it difficult to adjust to life among the postwar generation. It was at this time she met Winifred Holtby, and a close friendship developed with both aspiring to become established on the London literary scene. The bond lasted until Holtby's death in In Brittain married George Catlin, a political scientist and philosopher. Their son, John Brittain-Catlin —was an artist painter, businessman, and the author of the autobiography Family Vera Brittain: A Life, which appeared in Brittain's first published novel was The Dark Tide It was not until that she published Testament of Youth, which was followed by the sequels, Testament of Friendship — her tribute to and Vera Brittain: A Life of Winifred Holtby — and Testament of Experiencethe continuation of her own story, which spanned the years between and Vera Brittain wrote from the heart and based many of her novels on actual experiences and actual people. In this regard her novel Honourable Estate was in part more of a memoir. In the s she became a regular speaker on behalf Vera Brittain: A Life the League of Nations Union, but in June she was invited to speak at a peace rally in Dorchester, where she shared a platform with Dick Sheppard, George Lansbury, Laurence Housman and Donald Soper. Afterwards Sheppard invited her to join the Peace Pledge Union, and following six months' careful reflection she replied in January to say she would. Later that year Brittain also joined the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship. She was a practical pacifist in the sense that she helped the war effort by working as a fire warden and by travelling around the country raising funds for the Peace Pledge Union's food relief campaign. She was vilified for speaking out against saturation bombing of German cities through her booklet Massacre by Bombing. Her principled pacifist position was vindicated somewhat when, inVera Brittain: A Life Nazis' Black Book of Vera Brittain: A Life to be immediately arrested in Britain after a German invasion was shown to include her name. In November she suffered a fall in a badly lit London Vera Brittain: A Life while on the way to a speaking engagement. She fulfilled the engagement but afterwards found she had suffered a fractured left arm and broken little finger of her right hand. These injuries began a physical decline in which her mind became more confused and withdrawn. Vera Brittain never fully got over the death of her brother Edward. When she died in Wimbledon on 29 Marchaged 76, her will requested that her ashes be scattered on Edward's grave on the Asiago Plateau in Italy — " Her daughter honoured this request in September Perhaps some day the sun will shine again, And I shall see that still the skies are blue, And feel once more I do not live in vain, Although bereft of You. Perhaps the golden meadows at my feet Will make the sunny hours of spring seem gay, And I Vera Brittain: A Life find the white May-blossoms sweet, Though You have passed away. Vera Brittain. Search in the poems of Vera Brittain:. Biography of Vera Brittain. You're young. And then it must have been A very fine experience for you! Perhaps To R. Social Media. Delivering Poems Around The World. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge Vera Brittain: A Life by Berry, Paul, Bostridge, Mark -

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Vera Brittain by Paul Berry. Vera Brittain by Paul Berry. Mark Bostridge. Vera Brittain 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 Vera Brittain: A Life and Mark Bostridge provide a full Vera Brittain: A Life candid account of Brittain's life that alters in important respects the self-portrait she presented in Testament of Yo Vera Brittain is best known as the author of Testament of Youth, the eloquent memoir of her World War I experiences that gave voice to Vera Brittain: A Life 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 Vera Brittain: A Life 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. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published May 30th by Northeastern University Press first published More Details Original Title. Whitbread Award Nominee for Biography Other Editions 6. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Vera Brittainplease sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Vera Brittain. Jul 31, Allyson Faith rated it it was amazing. Vera Brittain has been my hero for many years decades I made it a mission to read it this summer, and I loved it. It's fascinating and gave me a greater understanding of Brittain's entire life. I think she would have been difficult to live with, but I still admire her greatly. She's still my main role model. Excellent stuff. I was particularly interested in reading about her decades Vera Brittain: A Life work for feminism and pacifism. Such a good book. Such a fascinating life. Her struggles with being a pacifist during World War Two completely fascinated me, and this retelling of them has almost convinced me my own reason for not being able to identify as an absolute Such a good book. May 12, Vera Berg rated it really liked it. I selected this book because Ms. Brittain is quoted in histories of WWI and she intrigued me. She was a writer, pacifist, feminist, wife, mother and friend who lived through two world wars and was a British leader in the movements for women's sufferage and peace. It was fascinating to live through those times through her eyes and through her family and friends. The book is maybe too detailed for me pages but fascinating and well-written. For some reason, I never read this definitive biography Vera Brittain: A Life Vera Brittain back when I was reading a lot by and Vera Brittain: A Life her. While I'm not sure how these two authors got paired up, Paul Berry was VB's literary executor and his co-author Mark Bostridge continues to write about VB and other topics. The text is engaging, informative and seamless, balancing Vera's continued accomplishments as well as her disappointments. It was these latter struggles - her difficult relationship with her son, the recept For some reason, I never read this definitive biography of Vera Brittain back when I was reading a Vera Brittain: A Life by and about her. It was these latter struggles - her difficult relationship with her son, the reception of her writing and the suddenly-caused slow decline of her own health--that imparts a particular sadness to the last portion of the book. Talk about adding depth to a story. As much as I enjoyed Testament Vera Brittain: A Life Youth, this book adds a third dimension, to present an almost holographic view of Vera's life. We learn the back story on her marriage, her relationship with Winifred Holtby. Also, we learn Vera Brittain: A Life the unrequited crush that haunts her for nearly 20 years, and the info about her brother's death that would have been earth-shaking, in her time, if she'd Vera Brittain: A Life able to fully accept it. Beyond the above, this is a story of a woman who Talk about adding depth to a story. Beyond the above, this is a story of a woman who appears to lose everyone of importance in her life during Vera Brittain: A Life while working, suffering, being used to her limits. Only to lose again, what is important and to suffer again during WWII. These later hardships--the bombing of London, the need to part with Vera Brittain: A Life children for two years! The personal persecution because she stands by her Vera Brittain: A Life of peace, and worked to relieve the hardships caused by the Allies of starving innocents--well she ends up on the "no fly" list of her own government, as well as the "round up and imprison if we invade England" list of the Nazis. Then there Vera Brittain: A Life the whole intro to Winifred Holtby, a famous British writer in her time--with the BBC, recently, dramatizing one of her books--and unknown to most Americans of today. Interesting how she was so respected when she preached for peace in the 's but then viewed almost as an enemy when she kept hr position into the war. Nice, the way her feelings for George seem to deepen as she ages. Then there are her children some of this info goes beyond the book : 1. John who has a dughter but also four sons, in a sense replacing the four young men she lost in WWI. Yet John is often cruel and critical and not someone she felt she could like. Shirley--who lives her mothers dream for women, and her father's dream of public office, becoming a member of Parliament and a founder and first president of the Social Democrat Party which Vera Brittain: A Life turn created the Liberal Democrat Party. ALso, she becomes a Baroness! On her own! Without having to marry a Baron! A daughter of whom Vera could be most proud. Shirley seems to have had almost a charmed life. While her mother experienced her Oxford years as a lonely time where she was grieving for losses and feeling out of step with the younger, non-war-scarred, students, Shirley appeared to have fun. Also Shirley's Oxford boyfriends are a. Roger Bannister, Vera Brittain: A Life first man to run the four mintue mile. This is a solid and thoughtful biography. Brittain is a tough subject, because while she was admirable in many ways, she was also clearly a difficult woman to deal with personally. Berry and Bostridge rise to the challenge and present a balanced picture, sympathetic to her tragedies and hardships, yet honest about her often fraught relationships with others. Elsa rated it really liked it Mar 13, Katharine Holden rated it liked it Dec 07, Iman Amanour rated it it was amazing Aug 09, Anne Manuel rated it it was Vera Brittain: A Life May 01, Tisa rated it it was amazing May 31, Vera Brittain: A Life Scothern rated it liked it May 14, Christine Speed Vera Brittain: A Life it it was amazing Jan 11, Brittany Farrell rated it liked it Jan 23, Jan rated it really liked it Dec 28, Susan Davidson rated it it was amazing Aug 28, Joan rated it it was amazing Aug 01, Barbara rated it liked it Apr 24,