Women in War (Part 2)
World War I
Vera Brittain
Terry Martin alerted me to the World War I writings of Vera Brittain
Terry tells me ‘Her WW1 writings are, I think, quite superb in both her writing and the sense of her own personal growing up as part of the ‘lost generation’. I thought I would also mention the much less known ‘Chronicle of Youth’, her actual diaries, which in some ways make an interesting contrast to the memoir.
Testament of Youth
Vera Brittain’s memoir of her experiences in World War I from the outset as a student at Oxford University. She abandoned her studies in 1915 to enlist as a nurse in the army, and served in London, Malta and the Western Front. By the end of the war, Vera had lost many of the people she loved. Her experiences led her on a journey towards pacifism.
Testament of Youth: Going to War (Film)
The movie based on the book. Available on Amazon.
Chronicle of Youth: The War Diary, 1913-1917.
The actual diaries of Vera Brittain on which she based her book Testament of Youth.
The Napoleonic Wars / The Wars of Liberation in Prussia / Germany
Marie Von Clausewitz: The woman behind the making of On War
By Vanya Eftimova Bellinger
While not a warrior, Marie von Clausewitz had a significant influence over the work of her husband Carl, On War, and completed his manuscript after his death. The social and cultural climate of the time is discussed extensively in this volume as well.
West Africa 18th and 19th century
The Warriors of this West African Kingdom were Formidable – and Female
by Rachel Jones
The Kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa rose to dominance on the strength of its disciplined army and strategic leadership and through its role in capturing and selling hundreds of thousands of people from neighbouring nations to the transatlantic slave trade.
Amazons of Black Sparta: The Women Warriors of Dahomey
By Stanley B. Alpern
Priding themselves on bodies hardened from childhood by rigorous physical exercise, the Dahomean women evolved from palace guards to professional troops armed with muskets, machetes, and clubs.
Inspired by the true events of the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Ages past
Women Warriors Rising from the Dust of History
A glimpse into what archaeology is bringing back from the past – warrior women rising from the dust.
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