Hotel Florida

A spellbinding story of love amid the devastation of the Spanish Civil WarMadrid, 1936 In a city blasted by a civil war that many fear will cross borders and engulf Europe a conflict one writer will call the decisive thing of the century six people meet and find their lives changed forever Ernest Hemingway, his career stalled, his marriage sour, hopes that this war will give him fresh material and new romance Martha Gellhorn, an ambitious novice journalist hungry for love and experience, thinks she will find both with Hemingway in Spain Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, idealistic young photographers based in Paris, want to capture history in the making and are inventing modern photojournalism in the process And Arturo Barea, chief of the Spanish government s foreign press office, and Ilsa Kulcsar, his Austrian deputy, are struggling to balance truth telling with loyalty to their sometimes compromised cause a struggle that places both of them in peril Beginning with the cloak and dagger plot that precipitated the first gunshots of the war and moving forward month by month to the end of the conflict Hotel Florida traces the tangled and disparate wartime destinies of these three couples against the backdrop of a critical moment in history a moment that called forth both the best and the worst of those caught up in it In this noir landscape of spies, soldiers, revolutionaries, and artists, the shadow line between truth and falsehood sometimes became faint indeed your friend could be your enemy and honesty could get you or someone else killed Years later, Hemingway would say, It is very dangerous to write the truth in war, and the truth is very dangerous to come by In Hotel Florida, from the raw material of unpublished letters and diaries, official documents, and recovered reels of film, the celebrated biographer Amanda Vaill has created a narrative of love and reinvention that is, finally, a story about truth finding it, telling it, and living it whatever the cost INCLUDES 16 PAGES OF BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS New Read [ Hotel Florida ] author [ Amanda Vaill ] – kino-fada.fr The Spanish Civil War was a dress rehearsal for WW2 The Allies stayed neutral saw it as a fight tween Communism Capitalism as German Italian fascists supported the Conservative Catholic right while the Russies aided the left until their betrayal surprised It was a very bloody, brutal war 1936 39 , and few in the US know anything about it or give a damn They focus on WW2 too dumb to s...This was EXCELLENT I was hoping it d be good I have always been interested in the Spanish Civil War It was actually a useful thing for me as an idealistic, leaning socialistic young kid who admired the Left well, the Right in the Spanish Civil War was easy to hate But, then, what was I to do when I discovered the Left wasn t perfect either Anyway This author is sympathetic to the Republican cause, and was able to draw her mostly leftist subjects with clarity and precision But she was n This was EXCELLENT I was hoping it d be good I have always been interested in the Spanish Civil War It was actually a useful thing for me as an idealistic, leaning socialistic young kid who admired the Left well, the Right in the Spanish Civil War was easy to hate But, then, what was I to do when I discovered the Left wasn t perfect either Anyway This author is sympathetic to the Republican cause, and was able to draw her mostly leftist subjects with clarity and precision But she was not at all blind to the failings of the Left and the total betrayal by Stalin This leaves her free to dig in and show the good things done by her six main subjects, but also ...In the author s note that kicks off Hotel Florida Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War, Amanda Vaill lays out her hopes for the 400 pages to come that the heroes whoever they are are visible Vaill is being coy, of course She puts her heroes front and center though they might not be who you expect.Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn are the big names of the three couples chronicled here, and they re presented as exemplars of the Ugly American at work and play Hemingwa In the author s note that kicks off Hotel Florida Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War, Amanda Vaill lays out her hopes for the 400 pages to come that the heroes whoever they are are visible Vaill is being coy, of course She puts her heroes front and center though they might not be who you expect.Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn are the big names of the three couples chronicled here, and they re presented as exemplars of the Ugly American at work and play Hemingway, a decade after publication of The Sun Also Rises, is vain and ...This does not try to give a comprehensive history of the Spanish Civil War but instead focuses on six lives between the start of the Nationalist rebellion and the Republican surrender They are all involved in media American writers Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, European photo journalists Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, Spanish press officer Arturo Barea and his Austrian deputy, Ilsa Kulcsar.The author, Amanda Vaill, presents information in strict chronological order She avoids speculati This does not try to give a comprehensive history of the Spanish Civil War but instead focuses on six lives between the start of the Nationalist rebellion and the Republican surrender They are all involved in media American writers Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, European photo journalists Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, Spanish press officer Arturo Barea and his Austrian deputy, Ilsa Kulcsar.The author, Amanda Vaill, presents information in strict chronological order She avoids speculation and has based her account on letters, diaries and other writings,both from the main characters and from others who met them.She also avoids judgement but questions arise naturally from her narrative What are the ethics of getting a story, taking a photograph in a war zone How is an individual to live, and love, and create, in the context of...The Hotel Florida, Madrid, Spain rendevous, clubhouse, home, hot bed of intrigue personal and political between 1936 and 1939, doesn t actually figure much into the book of the same name but does provide an anchor of sorts for the period We can be pretty sure that anyone who was anyone in Madrid passed through at one time or another.A little background 1931, fair and free elections rid the Spanish people of a corrupt government run by the military and monarchy Five years of political ref The Hotel Florida, Madrid, Spain rendevous, clubhouse, home, hot bed of intrigue personal and political between 1936 and 1939, doesn t actually figure much into the book of the same name but does provide an anchor of sorts for the period We can be pretty sure th...I have only two real requirements from a book that tries to cover explain historical events One is that when I come to the end, I kinda feel I now have a better grasp of just WHAT was going on The second is that it be readable That reading it is a pleasure and not a chore Hotel Floridaor less fulfills the requirements.Have to admit, it fills the second requirement a little better It is really an interesting read The narrative is cohesive and compelling There are times it is really h I have only two real requirements from a book that tries to cover explain historical events One is that when I come to the end, I kinda feel I now have a better grasp of just WHAT...Previously Ms Vaill wrote a book about Gerald and Sara Murphy, they of living well is the best revenge fame with a circle of friends that included Picasso, Fitzgerald, and Hemingway The book was well received and while I haven t read it I will soon because I thoroughly enjoyed Hotel Florida, a book about the Spanish Civil War through the lenses of three intriguing couples Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, Arturo Barea and Ilsa Kulcsar Two writers, two photogra Previously Ms Vaill wrote a book about Gerald and Sara Murphy, they of living well is the best revenge fame with a circle of friends that included Picasso, Fitzgerald, and Hemingway The book...I have a naive understanding of the Spanish Civil War I thought that Spain was used as a testing ground for Nazi armament I didn t realize that Russia was doing the same thing It started out as a Socialist state Spain being attacked by Spain s military...The hotel of the intriguing title is in the background as the horror and tragedy of the Spanish Civil War is shown through the stories of three couples.Arturo Barea is juggling a wife and a mistress as the war begins when he falls in love with Ilsa Kulcsar Ilsa, a leftist activist from Austria, left her marriage to go to Madrid for the anti fascist cause Robert Capa from Hungary and Gerda Tam of Poland met in Paris, the first destination for anti fascist expats on their way to Spain Ernest He The hotel of the intriguing title is in the background as the horror and tragedy of the Spanish Civil War is shown through the stories of three couples.Arturo Barea is juggling a wife and a mistress as the war begins when he falls in love w...Author Amanda Vaill tells the story of the Spanish Civil War in a chronological fashion from July 1936 in Madrid to March 1939 in Paris, Key West and Havana Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn are major characters, exposing themselves constantly to danger while covering the war, writing about it, and managing to have a romantic affair between battles Hemingway was still married to his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, but that didn t seem to bother him much He was intrigued by her gorgeous le Author Amanda Vaill tells the story of the Spanish Civil War in a chronological fashion from July 1936 in Madrid to March 1939 in Paris, Key West and Havana Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn are major characters, exposing themselves constantly to danger while covering the war, writing about it, and managing to have a romantic affair between battles Hemingway was still married to his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, but that didn t seem to bother him much ...

• English
• 12 June 2017
Amanda Vaill
• Hardcover
• 464 pages
• 0374172994
• Amanda Vaill
• Hotel Florida