Testament of Youth

A British woman recalls coming of age during World War I in this unforgettable true story of young love, war and how to make sense of the darkest times


'One of the most powerful and widely read war memoirs of all time' Guardian
'A haunting elegy for a lost generation' The Times
'Should be compulsory reading' Daily Mail

In 1914 when war was declared, Vera Brittain was twenty, preparing to study at Oxford. Four years later her life - and the lives of her whole generation - had changed in a way that would have been unimaginable.

Testament of Youth, one of the most famous autobiographies of the First World War, is Brittain's account of how she survived those agonising years; how she lost the man she loved; how she nursed the wounded and how she emerged into an altered world.

A passionate record of a lost generation, it made Vera Brittain one of the best-loved writers of her time, and has lost none of its power to shock, move and enthral readers since its first publication in 1933.

With an afterword from Kate Mosse OBE.

'A heartbreaking account of the impact of the First World War on a stout-hearted, high-minded young woman' Sunday Times

Readers love this classic:

'It should be required reading' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'No fictional love story I have ever read has moved me as much as this real one' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'[A] beautifully written, heart breaking and powerful account' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Reduced me to tears' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'The effect of war on a generation seen from a young woman's perspective is more insightful than any rendition of battles or victories I have ever read!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐