Published in 1940, For Whom the Bell Tolls is considered to be Ernest Hemingway’s greatest war novel. An epic romance about American expatriate Robert Jordan and his mission to destroy a bridge to stop Fascists in the Spanish Civil War, For Whom the Bell Tolls touches on many of Hemingway’s most important themes, including a critical look at masculinity, the meaninglessness of war, and a love of Europe.
Upon its publication, For Whom the Bell Tolls was met with controversy. Some took exception to Hemingway’s rough language, which included several stand-ins for profanity to capture the rough manners of the soldiers. Others criticized a more romantic style of prose from the famously terse...
