Episode Five: Vera Brittain

In this episode of Broad Street to Brideshead, we explore the life and legacy of Vera Brittain—writer, feminist, pacifist, and one of the most powerful literary witnesses of the First World War. Best known for Testament of Youth, Brittain transformed personal loss into a work that reshaped how war, memory, and women’s experience are written and understood. At the heart of this episode is a conversation with Mark Bostridge, author of Vera Brittain: A Life, who brings fresh insight into Brittain’s Oxford years, her literary friendships, and the moral seriousness that defined both her writing and her public stance.