Hemingway in Love and War: The Lost Diary of Agnes Von Kurowsky, Her Letters, and Correspondence of Ernest Hemingway

This collaborative volume, which sorts out the facts behind A Farewell to Arms , contains the ``emotionally restricted'' diary of von Kurowsky, the American nurse with whom Hemingway fell in love in a Milan hospital in 1918; her effusively affectionate and concerned 52 letters to him; 14 of his idealistic letters to his family, which disclose a good deal about his forceful, exuberant personality; and hospital reminiscences by Villard, one of his fellow-patients. In a detailed study, Nagel, English professor at Northeastern, discusses how Hemingway's romanticized Farewell differs from his actual experiences. The material assembled here, most of which has not been previously published, contradicts the assertions of Hemingway's major biographers about his military service and war wounds. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)