Blood And Champagne: The Life And Times Of Robert Capa - Softcover

Kershaw, Alex

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0306813564 ISBN 13: 9780306813566

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2004

Synopsis

Robert Capa, one of the finest photojournalists and combat photographers of the twentieth century, covered every major conflict from the Spanish Civil War to the early conflict in Vietnam. Always close to the action, he created some of the most enduring images ever made with a camera- perhaps none more memorable than the gritty photos taken on the morning of D-Day.But the drama of Capa's life wasn't limited to one side of the lens. Born in Budapest as Andre Freidman, Capa fled political repression and anti-Semitism as a teenager by escaping to Berlin, where he first picked up a Leica camera. He founded Magnum, which today remains the most prestigious photographic agency of its kind. He was a gambler and seducer of several of his era's most alluring icons, including Ingrid Bergman, and his friends included Irwin Shaw, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, and John Huston.From Budapest in the twenties to Paris in the thirties, from postwar Hollywood to Stalin's Russia, from New York to Indochina, Blood and Champagne is a wonderfully evocative account of Capa's life and times.

About this title

Review:

"It does seem to me that Capa has proved beyond all doubt that the camera need not be a cold mechanical device" John Steinbeck wrote of photojournalist Robert Capa in a quote that launches Blood and Champagne, a well-written, exhaustively researched biography. "Like the pen, it is as good as the man who uses it. It can be the extension of mind and heart." That's quite a compliment coming from an author of Steinbeck's calibre, but then Capa won the respect and friendship of some of the brightest talents of his generation; other admirers and poker buddies included Ernest Hemingway and John Huston, and among his many loves was actress Ingrid Bergman. Capa won fame slogging through the blood and grime to capture vivid images of five different wars, from the Spanish Civil War (where he wasn't above staging some of his photographs), through the landings at Omaha Beach on D-Day (which he chronicled for Life magazine as the only journalist to wade ashore with the first wave of G.I.s), to the early days of the Vietnam conflict (where he was killed in action at the age of 41 while covering the French army, soon to be replaced with disastrous results by the Americans).

Another great writer, John Hersey, famously dubbed the swarthy chain-smoking photographer "the Man Who Invented Himself", and author Alex Kershaw contends that one of his greatest achievements was the legend that he created for himself. A California journalist who contributes to The Guardian and The Sunday Times Magazine, among others, Kershaw brings Capa and his times to life with bright, vivid writing and telling anecdotes, using a fascinating personal odyssey to put the man's professional accomplishments in to perspective. "Capa was the first photographer to make photojournalism appear glamorous and sexy", he writes. Of course, that distinction and all others take a back seat to the photos themselves, and this book's only shortcoming is that it does not include any examples of the great man's work. --Jim DeRogatis, Amazon.com

Review:

'Ambition, integrity and courage were intertwined in Capa, as Alex Kershaw persuades in this elegant biography ...a spellbinding portrait of his gypsy life.' -- Christopher Sylvester, Sunday Times, 28 April 2002

'This new biography has many of the ingredients of an adventure story' -- Martin Gayford, Sunday Telegraph, 5 May 2002

'True to his subject ... Packed with good stories, and snappily written, Blood and Champagne is as full of life as the man it celebrates.’ -- Observer, 12 May 2002

'a fine read, full of high emotion like watching Casablanca for the first time. A tale rich with intrigue, love, lust, lies and betrayal...I loved this book' -- Janine di Giovanni, Literary Review, April 2002

‘Remarkably fine’ -- Justine Picardie, Daily Telegraph, 11 May 2002

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0306813564
• ISBN 13: 9780306813566
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336