Author Terry Mort describes Ernest Hemingway’s stretch as a World War II correspondent in what is not yet another Hemingway memoir or biography, but rather an occurrence that encompasses a piece of scholarship new to the World War II time period.

Hemingway was largely impacted by his relationship with writer Martha Gellhorn, who joined him as a war correspondent periodically throughout the duration of their time away from home. He departed from the consolation of his Cuban residence on a Collier’s magazine assignment, and arrived in Europe late in the conflict --- in the 1944 spring of World War II. He was a fiction writer and artist, setting himself apart from many traditional journalists and reporters pressured to meet bureaucratic deadlines. It was claimed that Gellhorn was less concerned with objectivity than Hemingway was, even though he was the fiction writer. Their relationship included both gratitude and affair, and had bearing on when and where they moved --- often standing apart.

"HEMINGWAY AT WAR is as much about war as it is about Hemingway, and I decidedly recommend it if those weighty topics are favorable to you."

For Hemingway, the activities began as a patrolman watching for German U-boats. U-boat patrolling was not merely a stunt for publicity; it was something he pushed hard to have the opportunity to do. Hemingway covered the goings-on of wartime on the side of the Allies, making his own contribution to the reporting of military history. Continuing on from his U-boat patrols in the Gulf of Mexico, he entered England. He maneuvered around wartime Europe with skill, starting when he arrived in London right on time to cover American involvement, about three weeks before the Allied invasion of Europe. Gellhorn followed to also engage in wartime journalism.

Hemingway moved himself into action on D-Day at Omaha Beach, remaining inside a landing craft. Gellhorn had done the same aboard a civilian hospital ship even before Hemingway arrived, much to his chagrin. Before the war was over, Hemingway found himself in Paris, France and the forests of Germany. Some other PR men and journalists were said to appear inauthentic in how they looked --- dressed like movie extras, not to mention their writing, which mirrored that at times. There was much censorship, so much as to the point that later fictional representations of the war by Hemingway often took on a truer sense of reality than the way others’ facts were published.

The usual comparisons between the man, his writing and his image are nothing new, but add in the fresh dimension of World War II, and the book offers new and unique information to fuel further commentary. One can question whether he was doing it for the journalism, or for the sense of adventure and personal fulfillment, too. Hemingway’s time as a war correspondent impacted his later writing: ACROSS THE RIVER AND INTO THE TREES is potentially based on the 1944 winter fighting of the Hürtgen Forest in Germany.

HEMINGWAY AT WAR is as much about war as it is about Hemingway, and I decidedly recommend it if those weighty topics are favorable to you. The segments interspersed with romance during the war are not well developed and do not add much to the overall picture, but do provide context to Hemingway’s feelings at the time. If you are interested in war and revere Hemingway, welcome home, and prepare for the stories of war behind the scenes.