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Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures, 1935-1961 Audiobook
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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.
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“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 twenty years: In 1940 he had agreed to assist the NKVD, the Soviet Union’s foreign intelligence agency.”
— Wall Street Journal
Quotes
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“Compelling, vivid…Reynolds adds much critical insight to our understanding of Papa’s jigsaw-puzzle character.”
— William Doyle, New York Times bestselling author -
“Reynolds looks among the shadows and finds a Hemingway not seen before.”
— London Review of Books -
“An engrossing read…[that] adds more fascinating details to a life that remains continually fascinating.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune -
“Captivating…Reynolds reveals the covert side of Hemingway other biographers have not disclosed…Reynolds’ unique biography reads like an espionage thriller.”
— Missourian -
“[An] engrossing story…[Reynolds’] conclusions seem consistent with the well-known portrait of the novelist striving to prove his manliness and power.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Details Hemingway’s work with both America’s pre-CIA OSS and the Soviet Union’s pre-KGB NKVD while arguing that Hemingway’s late-life writer’s block stemmed from wartime experiences that undermined his faith in literature.”
— Library Journal
Awards
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An Amazon Best Book of the Month for March 2017
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A New York Times Bestseller
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About Nicholas Reynolds
Nicholas Reynolds has worked in the fields of modern military history and intelligence off and on for forty years, with some unusual detours. He currently teaches as an adjunct professor for Johns Hopkins University and, with his wife, Becky, cares for rescue pugs.
About Fred Sanders
Fred Sanders, an actor and Earphones Award–winning narrator, has received critics’ praise for his audio narrations that range from nonfiction, memoir, and fiction to mystery and suspense. He been seen on Broadway in The Buddy Holly Story, in national tours for Driving Miss Daisy and Big River, and on such television shows as Seinfeld, The West Wing, Will and Grace, Numb3rs,Titus, and Malcolm in the Middle. His films include Sea of Love, The Shadow, and the Oscar-nominated short Culture. He is a native New Yorker and Yale graduate.