Fifth Column and four unpublished stories of the Spanish Civil War.
New York: Scribners, 1969. First Printing of the First US Edition. A Near Fine copy with previous owner sticker removed from the flyleaf in a Near Fine unclipped dust jacket. These five works grew, of course, out of Hemingway's considerable experience of the Spanish war as a correspondent for the North American Newspaper Alliance and as a participant in filming "The Spanish Earth." More specifically, they grew from adventures in and around besieged Madrid--particularly in the Hotel Florida and in a bar called Chicote's. The book is unified, then, in time, place, and action. It is unified even more by the dominating presence of the author, who is to be found alive on every page. That presence slants the focus, but also gives the book its sharp distinction. This is immediate, unmistakable Hemingway. This collection contains Hemingway's play "The Fifth Column", and the four stories "The Denunciation", The Butterfly and the Tank", "Night Before Battle" and "Under the Ridge". Despite his fascination with warfare and his cheerful wit, he is also trying to tell us that war is hell. (All the good themes are old stuff.) And if he fails to break our hearts, exactly, his stories reach deep enough to touch them. Item #24583
Price: $195.00