<DIV> <p>p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">In 1937 and 1938, Ernest Hemingway made four trips to Spain to cover its civil war for the North American News Alliance wire service and to help create the pro-Republican documentary film <I>The Spanish Earth</i>.<I> Hemingway's Second War</i> is the first book-length scholarly work devoted to this subject.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">Drawing on primary sources, Alex Vernon provides a thorough account of Hemingway's involvement in the Spanish Civil War, a messy, complicated, brutal precursor to World War II that inspired Hemingway's great novel <I>For Whom the Bell Tolls</i>. Vernon also offers the most sustained history and consideration to date of <I>The Spanish Earth</i>. Directed by Joris Ivens, this film was a landmark work in the development of war documentaries, for which Hemingway served as screenwriter and narrator.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">Contributing factual, textual, and contextual information to Hemingway studies in general and his participation in the war specifically, Vernon has written a critical biography for Hemingway's experiences during the Spanish Civil War that includes discussion of the left-wing politics of the era and the execution of José Robles Pazos. Finally, the book provides readings of <I>F</I><i>or Whom the Bell Tolls</i> both in historical context and on its own terms.</p> <p> </p> </div>