Vera Brittain's bestselling TESTAMENT OF YOUTH was based on her own copious diaries, which have a much greater intimacy than the account written for publication. These are those diaries. They begin in the carefree summer of 1913 with a blossoming romance and earnest discussions about the purpose of life and the nature of God - but not about the onset of war, which takes them by surprise. The diary entries begin to darken rapidly. Her brother, her fiance and most of their young men friends are killed in the war. Vera herself goes from knitting helmets and bandaging classes to abandoning her studies at Oxford to train as a nurse. She spent the remainder of the war nursing war-wounded men, among them German prisoners. Her diaries, written in London, Malta and France, contain moving descriptions of battle scenes and Zeppelin horrors over London.
- ISBN10 1842125427
- ISBN13 9781842125427
- Publish Date 1 August 2002 (first published 17 August 2000)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 19 January 2007
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Orion Publishing Co
- Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson History
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 384
- Language English