Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy

Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures, 1935-1961

By: Nicholas Reynolds

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

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 digs 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.

©2017 Nicholas Reynolds (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Interesting

Some of the facts seem like a little bit of a stretch, but overall worth a listen. Especially for Hemingway fans who want to know more about his political leanings and opinions on Russia and the Cold War.

A Must Read

This book has an insight like no other into the life of a writer like no other

So entertaining you'd think it was fiction

This was an amazing book for any Hemingway fan. Although non fiction it's written like any great spy novel. A must read.

Hemingway between the West and the East

An extraordinary life by an extraordinary person. This book follows the role that Hemingway played during the Spanish civil war, in the the subsequent battle between the Allies and the Axis and in the the follow up Cold War. The author does show the good and the bad traits that Hemingway possessed without any sugarcoating and he does give his sources as many times as possible, making the story more believable and credible.
I would recommend this book to any big Hemingway fan that would like to get a glimpse on the life experiences that resulted in the masterpieces that Hemingway has written.

Slice of the Hemingway biographical picture

Interesting facet of a fascinating life. It’s a little dry, but that’s probably necessary. The book seems to stick with objective and verifiable information to make a case, of sorts, regarding soldier and spy (or not), and doesn’t get pulled off track by so much available compelling material for storytelling.

There have to be better books on this topic.

The research behind this book is really good, and maybe if you were already a Hemingway scholar you could enjoy this book.

But the narrative structure never made much sense to me, despite knowing a fair bit about the man and his times. I think there was what seemed like a good organizing conception at the outset, but there simply wasn't enough available information to execute the plan.

Who knew!?

This should be a TV series. Fascinating story, not just about Hemingway, but about history.

More to Learn

Even for a perpetual student of Hemmingway this was a good read listen. Well done.

Best biography ever

I’ve read three other biographies of Hemingway. None come close to telling the whole story as this one does. An excellent story a great performance. It was a red very well.

a very good book.

I have read several of Ernest Hemingway's books. this is sort of a biography of Hemingway from World War II to 1961. there was a very lot that I did not know where I understand about Ernest Hemingway. this is a very good book