Although Vera Brittain later re-worked her actual WW1 diary into a novel, I don't think anything could supersede the original account, as the writer moves through life with no idea of what the future will hold.
As it opens in 1913, I was reminded of the collected letters of the young Queen Mother- having recently 'come out', Vera Brittain's days focus on dances, Church, social events and occasional events at her brother Edward's public school- where she meets the three friends of his who will so go on to influence her life.
We see an increasing seriousness and devotion to study, as, despite her father's negativity, she embarks on courses that will lead her to acceptance at Oxford. Meanwhile, occasional meetings with one of the friends- Roland Leighton- turn slowly to love. But as War breaks out, the calm, measured thoughtful life recorded in her journal is to become one of torment.
To the reader, who knos what's going to happen, so many little incidents, recorded at the tie with no great thought, come to later have a dreadful portent. - notably, perhaps, the Headmaster's speech when (just prior to the War) he tells the boys that "if a man could not be useful to his country, he was better dead." Yet many little observations on nature, life, religion have a poignancy when read in hindsight.
Abandoning her university career for nursing, her diary records endless anguish over those she loves - news reports and hints in their letters of major onslaughts, the desperate hope of leave, the wretchedness when a letter fails to come through...
As Roland's sister, Clare Leighton, comments in the Introduction, "Perhaps too, it is important to chronicle a war as seen and experienced by the young. It is strange how vividly a visual memory can be stamped into the soft wax of the very young."
Amazing, heart-rending writing. ( )

3.5 rated down. Having read _Testament of Youth_ this was a bit redundant to me. However, it was interesting to read the day-to-day reality of an Edwardian, middle-class, young woman struggling to find a feminist identity. Even though the constant "Beloved" language when discussing Roland reminded me a teenager's diary, I was still nervous as I got closer to December 1915 knowing what was to come. I guess, unbeknownst to me, I got more sucked in the diary than I thought it would. I'm not sure this is a necessary read for anyone who has already read _Testament_, but the difference in her tone can be interesting to read. ( )

2154 Chronicle of Youth: The War Diary 1913-1917, by Vera Brittain (read 14 Jul 1988) (Book of the Year) This is one of the most moving, heart-wrenching, beautifully-written books I have ever read. It is a diary from the years 1913 to 1917. It opens when the author was under 21, on Jan 1, 1913, progresses thru the year and into the war. She falls in love with Roland Leighton, who died in France on Dec 23, 1915, and tells of her time as a nurse in 1916 and 1917. Her brother Edward died in action on June 15, 1918, but the diary does not extend to that date. This is a wrenching book, vivid, super-poignant--written with great beauty. She says much of The Story of an African Farm, by Olive Schreiner, which was the bestseller of 1883. The book is drenched in literary England, full of beautiful heart-rending quotes. The book is crammed with such moving things, it is impossible to convey how strongly it has affected me. This is certainly one of the most exceptional things I have read in ages. [At the end of the year I selected it as the best book I read in 1988.] ( )

(Book #23 in the 2005 book challenge)

To recap, Vera Brittain wrote a novel/memoir type thing called Testament of Youth, which was based on her own diaries from WWI, and this one that I just read is the actual diary. This was a stunner of a book. It covers 1913 - 1916, and I think Vera was 19 when she started writing it. She's a great writer, and some of it does make you fear for modern society when you realize that most people in this day and age couldn't sit down and write a decent diary that both makes sense and is eloquent and articulate. My favorite thing is, unlike in Testament, you get to see that Vera has her vapid moments like anyone else, some of it is really a hoot. When the diary starts, Vera is preparing to go to Oxford, which was relatively unusual for a woman, and some of the best parts are her descriptions of her commitment to her education (it's a passion, a burning desire for education, and it made me feel a little shameful, as when I think of burning desire, I'm usually thinking along the lines of "ya know, I have a burning desire for some cheesecake." It certainly made me realize how much I take for granted.), and her frustration that so many people, including her father, see it as a waste of (her) time and (her family's) money. Then, the war starts. Vera has some time at Oxford, and then leaves to do war nursing. She gets engaged. Her fiance, her brother, and many of her childhood friends go off to fight in the trenches. As one might imagine, the diary devotes quite a bit of time to her love for her fiance. It's one of those things where it wouldn't come off very well in fiction, however the reality of all the events packs quite a punch and it was almost dreadful to read as it was nearly impossible not to imagine oneself in that situation. There was a lot of weeping, on both Vera's and my parts, toward the end.

I picked this up after reading about it being a good source of information on the lives of female students at Oxford during this time period. Dorothy Sayers was a year (two years maybe?) ahead of her at Somerville College and gets a few mentions.

Grade: A+
Recommended: To anyone interested in WWI, especially home front life. Vera Brittain went on to become a "beacon of the pacifist movement" (it says that on the back of the book), so it's like a war book that has a lot to do with peace. Also intriguing reading on women and education. The only drawback is that she's very, intently, almost painfully earnest at all times, so it's helpful to be able to stay in her mindset ... there are parts that are a little over-the-top in terms of flowery language. Some of it would almost be silly, except that the book keeps snapping you back to the horrors of that war for the men who were fighting. ( )

I ran across Vera Brittain in the documentary "The Great War and the Making of the Twentieth Century." I highly recommend this book. They introduced Brittain and the loss she suffered during the war. I decided to read her diary and then her book Testament of Youth.

I found the diary interesting, but somewhat disjointed. One senses some of the feminist in her coming out. Honestly I was more interested in her experiences during the war as a civilian experiencing the exhilaration of war, and later its loss and tragedy. ( )