Ronald Weber – författare

Ernest Hemingway devoted a large part of his writing life to nonfiction in the form of newspaper and magazine journalism and especially in the form of five full-length books. His nonfiction, however, is usually taken only as a diversion from the main business of his career, fiction, and examined only for light shed on the fiction. In this study, devoted to Hemingway's nonfiction books, the heart of his effort as a fact writer, the work is considered in its own right as a central part of his achievement. Just as he sought to create permanent fictions, Hemingway sought to shape his nonfiction books into permanent records that would stand side by side with the fiction in his complete works.

Ernest Hemingway devoted a large part of his writing life to nonfiction in the form of newspaper and magazine journalism and especially in the form of five full-length books. His nonfiction, however, is usually taken only as a diversion from the main business of his career, fiction, and examined only for light shed on the fiction. In this study - the first devoted exclusively to Hemingway's nonfiction books, the heart of his effort as a fact writer - the work is considered in its own right as a central part of his achievement.

The Lisbon Route tells of the extraordinary World War II transformation of Portugal's tranquil port city into the great escape hatch of Nazi Europe. Royalty, celebrities, diplomats, fleeing troops, and ordinary citizens desperately slogged their way across France and Spain to reach the neutral nation. Here the exiles found peace and plenty, though they often faced excruciating delays and uncertainties before they could book passage on ships or planes to their final destinations. As well as offering freedom from war, Lisbon provided spies, smugglers, relief workers, military figures, and adventurers with an avenue into the conflict and its opportunities. Ronald Weber traces the engaging stories of many of these colorful transients as they took pleasure in the city's charm and benign climate, its ample food and drink, its gambling casino and Atlantic beaches. Yet an ever-present shadow behind the gaiety was the fragile nature of Portuguese neutrality, which at any moment the Axis or Allies might choose to end.