He was born in the 1899 near Chicago. In the 1918 he volunteers in the ambulance services for the American Red Cross and leaves for the Italian front where he will be wounded.
Reporter and war correspondent for various American newspapers, he will be very influential by the events of the wars he will witness.
For those who play the bell is set in Spain during the Francoist war that sees Spain engaged in a fratricidal struggle which will come from all over the world supporters of both political parties.
Written by the author after the experience of a correspondent in the ranks of the anti-fascists in 1937, "For whom the bell tolls" presents us with a silent and backward war. His characters are masterfully described in everyday life as in the violence of those days.
Robert Jordan is an American professor enrolled in Spain among the ranks of the anti-fascists. He was given the task of blowing up a bridge and to do so he infiltrated fascist territory where a group of Spanish antifascists led by Pablo and his woman, Pilar, will help him.
In the few days in which the action takes place, Robert will find time to reflect on his life, on his past and on his future as he will also find time to fall in love with Maria, a Spanish girl who has suffered violence from the fascists. Pablo's woman will demonstrate all her strength by helping Robert complete the business.
The cruelty of war, death and suffering accompany the reader through the stories of the characters.
Fascists and anti-fascists, communists and republicans are equal in the brutality of war.
The ideological struggles of those years, communism, the Spanish bullfighter ideal, the magic of the gypsies act as a boundary to a great book, a book to read and to reflect on, always.
Alessandro Rugolo
