01/09/2017
This thoroughly researched exploration of Hemingway’s military adventurism fails to deliver a convincing conclusion. Reynolds gamely connects the author’s interactions with Soviet operatives in the Spanish Civil War to his fears of persecution during the post-WWII American Red Scare. He also documents Hemingway’s contact with the NKVD Soviet spy agency, antisubmarine patrol efforts in his fishing boat in Cuban waters, and creation of an amateur counterintelligence operation in Havana in 1942, as interesting sidelines to his creative life. But the author, a military historian, rarely accounts for the role Hemingway’s tremendous ego played as a motivating force. Hemingway’s activities in 1944 postinvasion France did assist in Paris’s liberation, but also prompted a U.S. Army investigation for violating noncombatant status. The book is filled with admissions that “no one is likely to ever know” the extent of Hemingway’s involvement with the Soviets and overly puffed-up martial language, such as describing combat coverage as “rid to the sound of the guns.” In addressing Hemingway’s later years, Reynolds notes that “fantasy and reality mixed in Hemingway’s thoughts and politics,” but doesn’t adequately address how depression, narcissism, and celebrity treatment may have affected the writer’s conduct. In concluding that Hemingway was “a gifted but overconfident amateur” in politics and espionage, Reynolds overstates the toll those pursuits took on the writer. (Mar.)
Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures, 1935-1961
Narrated by Fred Sanders
Nicholas ReynoldsUnabridged — 9 hours, 14 minutes
Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures, 1935-1961
Narrated by Fred Sanders
Nicholas ReynoldsUnabridged — 9 hours, 14 minutes
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Overview
A former CIA officer and curator of the CIA Museum unveils the shocking, untold story of Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway's secret life as a spy for both the Americans and the Soviets before and during World War II.
While he was the curator of the CIA Museum, Nicholas Reynolds, a longtime military intelligence expert, began to discover tantalizing clues that suggested Ernest Hemingway's involvement in the Second World War was much more complex and dangerous than has been previously understood. Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy brings to light for the first time this riveting secret side of Hemingway's life-when he worked closely with both the American OSS, a precursor to the CIA, and the Soviet NKVD, the USSR's forerunner to the KGB to defeat Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
Reynolds dig deep into Hemingway's involvement in World War II, from his recruitment by both the Americans and the Soviets-who valued Hemingway for his journalistic skills and access to sources-through his key role in gaining tactical intelligence for the Allies during the liberation of Paris, to his later doubts about communist ideology and his undercover work in Cuba. As he examines the links between his work as a spy and as an author, Reynolds reveals how Hemingway's wartime experiences shook his faith in literature and contributed to the writer's block that plagued him for much of the final two decades of his life. Reynolds also illuminates how those same experiences also informed one of Hemingway's greatest works-The Old Man and the Sea-the final novel published during his lifetime.
A unique portrait as fast-paced and exciting as the best espionage thrillers, Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy illuminates a hidden side of a revered artist and is a thrilling addition to the annals of World War II.
Editorial Reviews
Important.... Reynolds, a former curator at the CIA Museum, demonstrates that Hemingway was afraid the FBI might uncover a dirty little secret he had hidden for more than 20 years: In 1940 he had agreed to assist the NKVD, the Soviet Union’s foreign intelligence agency.” — Wall Street Journal
“Captivating. ... An important addition to the canon of one of America’s foremost writers. Reynolds’s unique biography reads like an espionage thriller.” — The Missourian
“Nicholas Reynolds’s fascinating new research in Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy shows that [Hemingway] was in fact working for both the Russians and the Americans.” — New York Review of Books
“Reynolds looks among the shadows and finds a Hemingway not seen before.” — London Review of Books
“An engrossing read for Hemingway buffs as well as casual readers, Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy adds more fascinating details to a life that remains continually fascinating.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Renowned American novelist Ernest Hemingway led a shocking secret life as a Soviet spy, according to claims in a new book. The startling revelations are detailed in Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy by former CIA officer Nicholas Reynolds.“ — Daily Mail (UK)
“The riveting, brand-new story of how America’s greatest writer was shaped by his secret adventures as a spy for both U.S. intelligence and the Soviet NKVD: Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy is compelling, vivid, and essential reading for all Hemingway and espionage fans.” — William Doyle, author of PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy
“A thorough, well researched, and highly readable account of Ernest Hemingway’s engagement with espionage (American and Soviet), Communism, and military adventurism. ... In particular, Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy is the first book to put Hemingway’s dalliance with the Soviet NKVD in the broader context of Hemingway’s life.” — John Earl Haynes, coauthor of Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America
“[An] engrossing story of Hemingway’s disillusionment with American politics, his sympathy with communism, and his attraction to adventure and subversion.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Drawing on his intelligence background, Reynolds uncovers a trove of documents that point to American novelist Ernest Hemingway’s recruitment in 1940 by the NKVD. ... Reynolds ably researches Hemingway’s World War II adventures. ... Intriguing. ... Recommended.” — Library Journal
“[A] thoroughly researched exploration of Hemingway’s military adventurism.” — Publishers Weekly
“Nicholas Reynolds ably weaves Vassiliev’s revelation, unavailable to previous biographers, into the tangled fabric of Hemingway’s event-filled life. Hemingway’s readers... will find it fascinating.” — Times Literary Supplement (London)
“Colorful, fast-paced. ... [Don’t] miss an opportunity to read this fascinating story.” — The Journal of America’s Military Past
“A must read for anyone who is a Hemingway fan.” — American Sailing Journal
Important.... Reynolds, a former curator at the CIA Museum, demonstrates that Hemingway was afraid the FBI might uncover a dirty little secret he had hidden for more than 20 years: In 1940 he had agreed to assist the NKVD, the Soviet Union’s foreign intelligence agency.
An engrossing read for Hemingway buffs as well as casual readers, Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy adds more fascinating details to a life that remains continually fascinating.
Reynolds looks among the shadows and finds a Hemingway not seen before.
The riveting, brand-new story of how America’s greatest writer was shaped by his secret adventures as a spy for both U.S. intelligence and the Soviet NKVD: Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy is compelling, vivid, and essential reading for all Hemingway and espionage fans.
Nicholas Reynolds’s fascinating new research in Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy shows that [Hemingway] was in fact working for both the Russians and the Americans.
Renowned American novelist Ernest Hemingway led a shocking secret life as a Soviet spy, according to claims in a new book. The startling revelations are detailed in Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy by former CIA officer Nicholas Reynolds.“
A thorough, well researched, and highly readable account of Ernest Hemingway’s engagement with espionage (American and Soviet), Communism, and military adventurism. ... In particular, Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy is the first book to put Hemingway’s dalliance with the Soviet NKVD in the broader context of Hemingway’s life.
Captivating. ... An important addition to the canon of one of America’s foremost writers. Reynolds’s unique biography reads like an espionage thriller.
Nicholas Reynolds ably weaves Vassiliev’s revelation, unavailable to previous biographers, into the tangled fabric of Hemingway’s event-filled life. Hemingway’s readers... will find it fascinating.
Colorful, fast-paced. ... [Don’t] miss an opportunity to read this fascinating story.
A must read for anyone who is a Hemingway fan.
Important.... Reynolds, a former curator at the CIA Museum, demonstrates that Hemingway was afraid the FBI might uncover a dirty little secret he had hidden for more than 20 years: In 1940 he had agreed to assist the NKVD, the Soviet Union’s foreign intelligence agency.
Colorful, fast-paced. ... [Don’t] miss an opportunity to read this fascinating story.
02/01/2017
This book grew out of an exhibit the author curated while working as a historian for the CIA Museum in McLean, VA. Drawing on his intelligence background, Reynolds uncovers a trove of documents that point to American novelist Ernest Hemingway's recruitment in 1940 by the NKVD, the precursor of the KGB. Although there is evidence for the recruitment, there is no proof Hemingway ever actually spied for the Soviets. Much of the story is filled out by supposition, signaled by phrases such as "perhaps," "may have," and "most likely." Hemingway's attraction to the Soviets is attributed mostly to an alliance against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Reynolds ably researches Hemingway's World War II adventures, both in Cuba and Europe, including clandestine activities supporting America's war effort. The final chapters cover Hemingway's predicament as an American in Cuba in the years leading up to Castro's Revolution and the Bay of Pigs, his reaction to Senator McCarthy's Communist witch hunt, and his paranoid delusions concerning FBI surveillance. Includes a generous selection of photographs. VERDICT An intriguing study highlighting the tension between Hemingway's Soviet sympathies and his identity as a U.S. patriot, particularly during the Cold War. Recommended for Hemingway enthusiasts and for readers interested in the history of Soviet espionage in the United States. [See Prepub Alert, 10/3/16.]—William Gargan, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., CUNY
As if Ernest Hemingway’s persona were not already mythical enough, military historian Nicholas Reynolds adds to the intrigue in this compelling account of the writer’s involvement in espionage. But Fred Sanders’s languid narration doesn’t match the energy of the cloak-and-dagger yarns the author has collected. With unparalleled access to the source documents, Reynolds brings to light Hemingway’s connections to the NKVD, the Soviet intelligence service during WWII, and to the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA. Listeners visit the battlefields of Spain and France as well as the Cuban villa where Hemingway hatched an audacious—but unfortunately unfulfilled—plan to attack U-boats from his cabin cruiser. Sanders’s spare, scholarly delivery could have been improved by channeling a little of Hemingway’s huge personality. D.B. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
2016-12-04
A military historian uncovers evidence of Ernest Hemingway's dabbling in espionage. While working on an exhibition at the CIA Museum, retired Marine Corps and CIA officer Reynolds (U.S. Marines in Iraq, 2003: Basrah, Baghdad and Beyond, 2016) discovered "tantalizing traces" of Hemingway's involvement in the Office of Strategic Services and Russia's NKVD, the precursor of the KGB. Beginning with that tenuous evidence, the author has assembled fragments from FBI and NKVD files, sometimes more suggestive than definitive, to create this mostly engrossing story of Hemingway's disillusionment with American politics, his sympathy with communism, and his attraction to adventure and subversion. Two events changed Hemingway's political perspective: a devastating hurricane in the Florida Keys in 1935, when the government failed to evacuate stranded World War I veterans, "who died by the hundreds"; and the refusal of the U.S. to support the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Both made him "passionately pro-Republican and antifascist" and therefore a likely recruit for the NKVD. He seems not to have engaged in much actual spying either for the Soviets or, later, the Americans, to whom he also ferried information. During a trip to China with his wife, Martha Gellhorn, he reported to Washington about "the friction…between the Nationalists and the communists," information that did not come from secret meetings or stolen papers. In 1942, living in Cuba, he headed what he called the "Crook Factory," a motley collection of friends who reported to the American ambassador about any odd behavior among German or Spanish businessmen on the island. Like most of his spying activities, this one was short-lived. In his later years, Hemingway became obsessed with the idea that he was under FBI surveillance, and the author speculates that this delusion "deepened his depression and made his final illness worse." Although Reynolds is forced to guess about much of Hemingway's secret life as a spy, his conclusions seem consistent with the well-known portrait of the novelist striving to prove his manliness and power.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940173527998 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 03/14/2017 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 1,116,168 |
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