Women and war: Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby

Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth (1933) is an autobiographical perspective on World War 1, charting her journey from youthful idealism to first-hand experience of war, nursing wounded soldiers near the Front, finally to her commitment to pacifism and feminism. Her book describes the devastating impact the war had upon her life and her close friendship with fellow writer Winifred Holtby, which sustained her in the aftermath. Holtby's novel South Riding presents a rural community grappling with the enormous changes brought about by the war. She, too, became a pacifist and feminist. This course will examine the life and work of these two remarkable women.