Testament of Youth

Testament of Youth is the first installment, covering 1900–1925, in the memoir of Vera Brittain . It was published in 1933. Brittain's memoir continues with Testament of Experience, published in 1957, and encompassing the years 1925–1950. Between these two books comes Testament of Friendship , which is essentially a memoir of Brittain's close colleague and friend, Winifred Holtby. A final segment of memoir, to be called 'Testament of Faith' or 'Testament of Time' was planned by Brittain but remained unfinished at her death. Testament of Youth has been acclaimed as a classic for... its description of the impact of World War I on the lives of women and the middle-class civilian population of Great Britain. The book shows how the impact extended into the postwar years. It is also considered a classic in feminist literature for its depiction of a woman's pioneer struggle to forge an independent career in a society only grudgingly tolerant of educated women. In the foreword, Brittain describes how she originally intended to write of her experiences as a novel but was unable to achieve the objective distance from her subject necessary.
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