Dr. Alex Vernon CONWAY, Ark. (May 4, 2011) – Dr. Alex Vernon’s latest book, Hemingway’s Second War: Bearing Witness to the Spanish Civil War, was recently published by University of Iowa Press.
Vernon, an Associate Professor of English, is the author of On Tarzan, most succinctly bred, Soldiers Once and Still: Ernest Hemingway, James Salter, and Tim O’Brien (Iowa, 2005), and The Eyes of Orion: Five Tank Commanders in the Persian Gulf War (with Neal Creighton, Greg Downey, Rob Holmes, and Dave Trybula), editor of Arms and the Self: War, the Military, and Autobiographical Writing, and coeditor (with Catherine Calloway) of Approaches to Teaching the Works of Tim O'Brien.
According to the University of Iowa Press, Hemingway’s Second War is the first book-length scholarly work devoted to four trips Ernest Hemingway made to Spain in 1937 and 1938 to cover its civil war for the North American News Alliance wire service and to help create the pro-Republican documentary film The Spanish Earth. Vernon provides a thorough account of Hemingway’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War, which inspired Hemingway’s great novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, and offers the most sustained history and consideration to date of The Spanish Earth, a landmark work in the development of war documentaries, for which Hemingway served as screenwriter and narrator.
The University of Iowa Press calls Hemingway’s Second War "an indispensible resource for students of literature, film, journalism, and European history and a landmark work for readers of Ernest Hemingway."
James H. Meredith, president of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society, called Hemingway’s Second War "a much-needed and terrific book."
"Whether shedding critical light on Hemingway’s experiences during the Spanish Civil War, explaining his role in the filming of The Spanish Earth, or clarifying his political positions during this period, Alex Vernon intelligently and comprehensively delivers, providing much-needed factual details in the process," he said. "I do not know of any other book, either already published or in process, that matches the thorough and keen treatment of this subject. It will easily be the definitive work on Hemingway and the Spanish Civil War."
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is featured in the 2010 edition of the Princeton Review as one of the country’s best 371 colleges, was identified as the nation’s top “Up and Coming” liberal arts college for 2011 by U.S. News and World Report, and is ranked among 45 “Best Buy” colleges by the 2011 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.