The View from the Ground
by Martha Gellhorn
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An anthology spanning six decades of on-the-scene journalism from "one of the most eloquent witnesses of the twentieth century" (Bill Buford, Granta ). For nearly sixty years, Martha Gellhorn traveled the globe to report on the tumult and extremity of life in the twentieth century. The View from the Ground, as Gellhorn explains, "is a selection of articles written during six decades; peace-time reporting. That is to say, the countries in the background were at peace at the moment of writing; show more not that there was peace on earth." Included here are accounts of America during the Depression, Israel and Palestine in the 1950s, post-Franco Spain, protests at the White House, domestic life in Africa, and Gellhorn's return to Cuba after a forty-one-year absence-among many other topics. Informed by the horrors of fascism in Spain and Germany, the modern terror in Central America, and by the courage of those who stand up to the thugs both in an out of government, The View from the Ground is a singular act of testimony that, like its companion volume, The Face of War, is "an eloquent, unforgettable history of a chaotic century" ( San Francisco Chronicle ). show lessTags
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This is a collection of Gellhorn's magazine articles from various political hot spots around the world. There are a few selections from every decade from the 30's through the 80's (which Gellhorn called "infuriating and shabby"), with each section concluded by a 1987 retrospective piece authored just for this volume. How I wish I could have met this remarkable woman. Her style is open and informative; her focus always on the people affected by political upheaval more than the politics itself. These essays are much more than simple factual reporting; Gellhorn never leaves the reader in doubt about her assessment of leaders from Harold MacMillan to Margaret Thatcher, from FDR to Ronald Reagan, Franco to Fidel; or of official policies show more affecting poverty, protest, or privacy. Nonetheless, the fairness of her approach to each subject is obvious in her writing. Gellhorn witnessed the liberation of Auschwitz; attended the Nuremburg trials and the trial of Eichmann in Israel, the HUAC hearings and the Senate Select Committee Hearings investigating charges against Joseph McCarthy ; she lived in France, in London, in Africa and Cuba; she traveled everywhere and interviewed displaced persons in Czechoslovakia, striking miners and their families in Wales, Palestinian refugees in Gaza, young communists in Poland; and experienced what we would refer to as reverse racism in a small town in Haiti. Her observations are priceless. History should be taught from perspectives such as this; it makes for engaging reading, provokes thought, and raises the consciousness. show less
The view from the ground by Martha Gellhorn
Enjoyed reading these stories and the subjects are so diverisified they are interesting.
Liked the different locations and learning about the culture.
Things I really liked is that the span of stories covers over 60 years.
War stories she makes you feel as if you are there, with fear as you ride your bike to the border.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
Enjoyed reading these stories and the subjects are so diverisified they are interesting.
Liked the different locations and learning about the culture.
Things I really liked is that the span of stories covers over 60 years.
War stories she makes you feel as if you are there, with fear as you ride your bike to the border.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
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30+ Works 1,914 Members
Martha Gellhorn, one of America's most important war correspondents, was the author of thirteen books of fiction and nonfiction and the third wife of Ernest Hemingway. Her reporting career spanned several decades: she covered conflicts from the Spanish Civil War to World War II to Vietnam. Gellhorn died in 1998 at age eighty-nine
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- Members
- 129
- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.75)
- Languages
- Dutch, English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 3
