Virginia Cowles – författare

This sensational 1941 memoir of life on wartime Europe's frontline by a trailblazing female reporter is an 'unforgettable' (The Times) rediscovered classic, introduced by Christina Lamb.Paris as it fell to the NazisLondon on the first day of the BlitzBerlin the day Germany invaded PolandMadrid in the Spanish Civil WarPrague during the Munich crisisLapland as the Russians attackedMoscow betrayed by the GermansVirginia Cowles has seen it all.As a pioneering female correspondent, she reported from the frontline of 1930s Europe into WWII always in the right place at the right time. Flinging off her heels under shellfire; meeting Hitler ('an inconspicuous little man'); gossiping with Churchill by his goldfish pond; dancing in the bomb-blasted Ritz ... Introduced by Christina Lamb, Cowles' incredible dispatches make you an eyewitness to the twentieth century as you have never experienced it before.'A tour-de-force.' Daily Mail'Amazingly brilliant.' New York Times'Fascinating.' Justine Picardie'Breathtaking.' Anna Funder'Thrilling.' Sue Prideaux'A long-overlooked classic that could not be timelier or more engrossing.' Paula McLain'One of the best memoirs of war reporting ever written.' Caroline MooreheadWhat readers are saying:The queen of historical name-droppingHoly cow! What a wonderful find!!Most unexpectedly great book that I have read in years. Reads like a novel [but] this is real life.The best book I've read this year ... Exquisitely written [day-to-day] drama of history ... Breathtakingly fresh.I can't recommend this book enough. Cowles' voice and humanity are her greatest assets, but her willingness to be where the action was - and always find trouble - paid off.A marvel. Her ability to capture anecdotes and dialogue that offer surprising insights into historic personages and events is a frequent source of wonder. It was difficult for me not to drive my family crazy wanting to read them quotes.The intrepid Virginia Cowles was in the right places at the right times and connected to the right people. What a life she led!

Written in the aftermath of World War II, Love Goes to Press opened in London in 1946 and on Broadway in 1947. At the time a relief for the survivors of Blitzkrieg and ration cards, today it is a devilishly entertaining portrayal of the Battle of the Sexes. In this romantic farce, set in a press camp on the Italian front in 1944, two women war correspondents—smart, sexy, and famous for scooping their male competitors—struggle to balance their professional lives with their love lives. The American literary tradition is replete with stories of "men without women," but in Love Goes to Press Martha Gellhorn and Virginia Cowles have created a world of "women without men." Complications ensue when one of our heroines unexpectedly encounters her ex-husband, a famous writer whom she had divorced on the grounds of plagiarism. This Bison Books edition features a preface and an updated afterword by Sandra Spanier discussing her recent archival discoveries, her experience of working with Gellhorn to publish the play for the first time, and the strong resemblance of the leading man to Gellhorn's ex-husband, Ernest Hemingway.

In the dark and uncertain days of 1941 and 1942, when Rommel's Afrika Korps was sweeping towards Egypt and the Suez Canal, a small group of daring raiders made history for the Allies. They operated deep behind the German lines, driving hundreds of miles through the deserts of North Africa. They hid by day and struck by night, destroying aircraft, blowing up ammunition dumps, derailing trains and killing many times their own number. The men were the Special Air Service, the SAS, the brainchild of David Stirling, a deceptively mild-mannered man with a brilliant idea. Under his command, small teams of resourceful, highly trained men penetrated beyond the front lines of the opposing armies and wreaked havoc where the Germans least expected it. Virginia Cowles's The Phantom Major is a classic account of these raids, an amazing tale of courage, impudence and daring, packed with action and high adventure. Her narrative, based on the eyewitness testimony of the men who took part, gives a fascinating insight into the early years of the SAS.Virginia Cowles was an American war correspondent and historian.Her book about her own experiences as a journalist from 1936-42, Looking for Trouble, has recently been re-issued by Faber Finds. Her play, written with Martha Gellhorn, Love Goes to Press!, will have a revival on Broadway in 2011. Among her biographies are: Winston Churchill: The Era and the Man, The Astors: Story of a Transatlantic Family, The Romanovs, The Rothschilds: A Family of Fortune and Great Marlborough and His Duchess.