Letters from a Lost Generation: First World War Letters of Vera Brttain and Four Friends

Bishop, Alan; Bostridge, Mark

ISBN 10: 1555533795 / ISBN 13: 9781555533793

Published by Northeastern University Press, 1998

About this Item

417 Pages With Index. In Very Good Condition, Hardcover, Not Price Clipped. Northeastern University Press 1998books are NOT signed. We will state signed at the description section. we confirm they are signed via email or stated in the description box. - Specializing in academic, collectiblle and historically significant, providing the utmost quality and customer service satisfaction. For any questions feel free to email us. Seller Inventory # X23465x

Bibliographic Details

Title: Letters from a Lost Generation: First World ...

Publisher: Northeastern University Press

Publication Date: 1998

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

This poignant work collects correspondence written from 1913 to 1918 between Vera Brittain and four young men -- her fiance Roland Leighton, her younger brother Edward and their two close friends, Victor Richardson and Geoffrey Thurlow -- who were all killed in action during World War I.

The correspondence presents a remarkable and profoundly moving portrait of five idealistic youths caught up in the cataclysm of war. Spanning the duration of the war, the letters vividly convey the uncertainty, confusion, and almost unbearable suspense of the tumultuous war years. They offer important historical insights by illuminating both male and female perspectives and allow the reader to witness and understand the Great War from a variety of viewpoints, including those of the soldier in the trenches, the volunteer nurse in military hospitals, and even the civilian population on the home front. As Brittain wrote to Roland Leighton in 1915, shortly after he arrived on the Western Front: "Nothing in the papers, not the most vivid and heartbreaking descriptions, have made me realize war like your letters."

Yet this collection is, above all, a dramatic account of idealism, disillusionment, and personal tragedy as revealed by the voices of four talented schoolboys who went almost immediately from public school in Britain to the battlefields of France, Belgium, and Italy. Linking each of their compelling stories is the passionate and eloquent voice of Vera Brittain, who gave up her own studies to enlist in the armed services as a nurse.

As World War I fades from living memory, these letters are a powerful and stirring testament to a generation forever shattered and haunted by grief, loss, and promise unfulfilled.

About the Author:

Alan Bishop is Professor of English at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. He is the author of an acclaimed biography of Joyce Cary, Gentleman Rider, and the editor of three volumes of Vera Brittain's diaries. Mark Bostridge is the co-author of Vera Brittain: A Life. He lives in England.