Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
For Whom the Bell Tolls  By  cover art

For Whom the Bell Tolls

By: Ernest Hemingway
Narrated by: Campbell Scott
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.46

Buy for $22.46

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

In 1937, Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight", For Whom the Bell Tolls.

The story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain, it tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. In his portrayal of Jordan's love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of El Sordo's last stand, in his brilliant travesty of La Pasionaria and his unwillingness to believe in blind faith, Hemingway surpasses his achievement in The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms to create a work at once rare and beautiful, strong and brutal, compassionate, moving, and wise.

"If the function of a writer is to reveal reality," Maxwell Perkins wrote Hemingway after reading the manuscript, "no one ever so completely performed it." Greater in power, broader in scope, and more intensely emotional than any of the author's previous works, it stands as one of the best war novels of all time.

©1952 Ernest Hemingway (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This is the best book Ernest Hemingway has written, the fullest, the deepest, the truest. It will, I think, be one of the major novels in American literature." (The New York Times Book Review)

Featured Article: Stephen King’s 20 Best Audiobooks—The Definitive List


Stephen King is one of the most prolific American authors of all time. He has published 61 novels, more than 200 short stories, and six nonfiction books—and he shows no sign of stopping. His most recent novel, The Institute, was published in September of 2019, and we’ve already pre-ordered his novella anthology If It Bleeds, which is set to be released in 2020. With such a large portfolio, choosing one listen to start with can be daunting.

What listeners say about For Whom the Bell Tolls

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6,107
  • 4 Stars
    1,998
  • 3 Stars
    788
  • 2 Stars
    256
  • 1 Stars
    153
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,529
  • 4 Stars
    1,425
  • 3 Stars
    537
  • 2 Stars
    143
  • 1 Stars
    107
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,315
  • 4 Stars
    1,488
  • 3 Stars
    624
  • 2 Stars
    185
  • 1 Stars
    128

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book; Awful Reader

It is a Hemingway classic undone by the consistent monotone of the performance reader He puts no life into the story, making the characters mundane and uninteresting. I am struggling to complete it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Do not ask

This is one of Hemmingway's best..the narrator's voice was perfect....it was clearly read with just the right emotion....the author himself wrote it without English profanity, but you can deduce what he meant to say.....Perhaps those that drop the F bomb every time they talk could take a hint....this is a story of romance, friendship, bravery, and the horror,stupidity, and overwhelming sadness of "unspeakable" war....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Greatest Novel

just want to be able to find the narrator for this book- he did such a wonderful job reading this novel, it was epic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hemingway in Love in War

I'm not generally a fan of Hemingway's long fiction. I much prefer his short works, but this is may be the best of his novels. The reader's performance is PRIMO! (Note for all those who are griping about the language being "censored," please, for the love of God, learn something...this IS how the book was originally published, There IS no other version. Hemingway probably didn't like doing it either, but Maxwell Perkins insisted.)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

visceral read

great book and will read again it was honest and truthful. i highly recommend this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

As good as it gets.

Such a moving story. This is a great example of why Hemingway is one of the best.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best of all time.

Incredible classic. And the performance will live in my head forever. I cannot hear this story in any other voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I am deeply moved

Campbell Scott did an amazing job narrating. I felt like I was there with them. Incredible story. I would recommend this book. I would recommend any Ernest Hemingway books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book

I found this book to be excellent. The reading was excellent. The story was wonderful I really enjoyed the whole experience.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story

A legendary story told well. I enjoyed listening to the performance.
I would recommend this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!