The aspect of Brittain's Testament of Youth that most intrigued me was that she felt service in the war was more beneficial than an education. She says that after the Viva Voce that told her she passed, she didn't really care, but was instead very happy to have finished that phase of her life. Before this, she seems obsessed with the War and incapable of going about her daily life knowing that there are men dying everywhere in Europe. Her mother neatly sums up this sentiment when she says "'One's intellect... could always take care of itself. It was one's personality that counted, and that could be better nourished sometimes in active life than in halls of learning.'" (163). Vera seems to come from a family that values learning, so I think it is interesting that the war has so warped their values. I can see why her mother said this, considering that Vera had the opportunity to go to school at any point (probably not after marrying Roland, however) but serving her country was an opportunity only available for a short while. I understand Vera's desire to serve like those she loves are doing as well, but I don't think that she or her mother are really taking account the gravity of her decision to become a nurse. This is echoed throughout the next sections as Vera begins to become disillusioned with the War and Roland's obsession with it. This is a good representation of the european eagerness to enter the war that was discussed in A Very Short Introduction and the subsequent disappointment when the war lasts way longer than expected.