Martha Gellhorn : the war writer in the field and in the text

St Louis-born Martha Gellhorn (1908-98) was the doyenne of twentieth century war correspondence. She covered conflicts from the Spanish Civil War to Reagan's wars in Central America in the 1980s. This work presents a critical study of her Second World War fiction and journalism. St. Louis-born Martha Gellhorn (1908-98) was the doyenne of twentieth century war correspondence. Opinionated, honest and unafraid, she covered conflicts from the Spanish Civil War to Reagan's wars in Central America in the 1980s. "Martha Gellhorn: The War Writer in the Field and in the Text" is the first critical study of her Second World War fiction and journalism. How war is represented matters vitally to all of us. Often overlooked in accounts of war literature is the writer's precise position in relation to battle and his or her resultant standing in the text. Kate McLoughlin traces Gellhorn's daring attempts to access the war zone and her constructions of the woman war correspondent in her despatches, novels, short stories and play. Drawing on unpublished letters, close attention is given to Gellhorn's rivalry with Ernest Hemingway (the two were married from 1940 to 1945) over reaching the Normandy beaches on D-Day and its textual outcome in the pages of "Collier's" magazine. McLoughlin goes on to examine Gellhorn's increasingly negative portrayals of the glamorous female war reporter and to suggest why such disillusionment might have set in. In offering a methodology as well as a critical account, this book constitutes a case-study for scholars working on war representation. It will be of interest not only to students of literature, but also to those taking courses in journalism, media studies and women's studies Includes bibliographical references (pages 230-255) and index. xvi, 264 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm