Once There Was a War

Nobel laureate John Steinbeck’s bracing from-the-frontlines account of World War II—now with a new cover and introduction In 1943 John Steinbeck was on assignment for The New York Herald Tribune, writing from Italy and North Africa, and from England in the midst of the London blitz. In his dispatches he focuses on the human-scale effect of the war, portraying everyone from the guys in a bomber crew to Bob Hope on his USO tour and even fighting alongside soldiers behind enemy lines. Taken together, these writings create an indelible portrait of life in wartime.

John Steinbeck (1902-û1968), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote more than twenty-five novels.
Mark Bowden is the author of the New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist Black Hawk Down as well as Road Work, Killing Pablo, and Guests of the Ayatollah. He is a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and teaches creative writing and journalism at Loyola College in Maryland.