Charles Sweeny, the Man Who Inspired Hemingway

Charles Sweeny was the heir to a fortune, but instead of a life of comfort, he became a warrior for causes he believed in. Twice kicked out of West Point, he fought in revolts against three Latin American dictators, became a highly decorated officer in the French Foreign Legion and the U.S. Army in World War I, a brigadier general in the Polish-Soviet War, a military advisor in the Greco-Turkish War, the leader of a flying squadron in Morocco's Rif War, a military advisor to the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War, and a spy for French intelligence. Before America entered World War II, he dodged FBI agents and U.S. neutrality laws to recruit American pilots to fight the Nazis and became a group captain in the R.A.F.'s Eagle Squadron. After Pearl Harbor, he worked with "Wild Bill" Donovan to devise guerilla campaigns in North Africa and Eastern Europe. This richly detailed book uses Sweeny's personal papers, historical documents and photos to tell the amazing true story of America's most celebrated soldier of fortune, who was a life-long friend of Ernest Hemingway and a role model for the novelist's fictional manly heroes.