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Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa
"A spellbinding portrait."-- The Sunday Times
Robert Capa (1913-1954), 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.
Robert Capa (1913-1954), 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.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
56 people are currently reading
938 people want to read
About the author
Alex Kershaw
22 books950 followersAlex Kershaw is the author of the widely acclaimed best sellers Against All Odds, The First Wave, The Bedford Boys, The Longest Winter, The Few, #TheLiberator, the basis for the Netflix drama, and Escape from the Deep, as well as biographies of Jack London, Raoul Wallenberg and Robert Capa. His latest book is Patton's Prayer, published May 2024.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
September 3, 2017
Las cinco estrellas no son por Capa. No solo por él, que no deja de ser un personaje del que sabes lo que te cuentan otros y lo que te muestran sus fotografías. Las cinco estrellas son por el ingente trabajo que ha desarrollado Alex Kershaw. No solo desgrana la vida de Capa. También hace un recorrido por la historia y la vida de aquellos que coincidieron con Capa tal y como dice el título.
Es fascinante, se lee como una novela, es dinámica y didáctica.
Por eso no le escatimo ni una estrella.
Es fascinante, se lee como una novela, es dinámica y didáctica.
Por eso no le escatimo ni una estrella.
April 22, 2017
Intelligent and entertaining biography with sources clearly quoted of the photojournalist Robert Capa: a man who knew how he wanted to live his life (not living in suburbia with wife & 3 kids - good for him).
February 12, 2011
A truly amazing biography of the photojournalist, Robert Capa. The research, the interviews, the testimonies were all impressive, and provided a satisfying look at a legend.
Having known little else about Capa before reading this book, I was stunned to learn that he was Hungarian, that his real name was Andre Friedman ("Robert Capa" was the name he invented). Similarly I was fascinated to discover his friendship and falling out with Ernest Hemingway, his work with John Steinbeck (who, reportedly, walked the streets for 14 hours, lost, in shock, after learning of Capa's death), and, finally, that he carried on an intense and scandalous love affair with classic actress, Ingrid Bergman.
Capa seemed to know everyone, make friends easily, his personality magnetic, charming, endearing. He was a ladies' man. Loved to gamble. Refused to tie himself down. Became bored easily if he wasn't in a war. From the pages and snippets of interviews, Capa's sex appeal as a dangerous, rogue photographer is crystal clear, and it's no wonder, really, why Capa spawned an entire legion of photojournalists, all chomping at the bit to play their role model.
My two favorite moments in Kershaw's biography are (1) when Capa, after being chastised as a ""vulture" by an American solider in WW II, vows to photograph war only if he himself participates in it and (2) when, shortly after losing Gerda Taro (the love of his life), Capa became even more risky, more loose with his life, as though he himself had a death wish. As Capa's friends observed, it was as though the pain of losing Gerda made Capa the brilliant photographer he was.
A fantastic read; highly recommended for anyone who loves photography, history, and iconic legends.
Having known little else about Capa before reading this book, I was stunned to learn that he was Hungarian, that his real name was Andre Friedman ("Robert Capa" was the name he invented). Similarly I was fascinated to discover his friendship and falling out with Ernest Hemingway, his work with John Steinbeck (who, reportedly, walked the streets for 14 hours, lost, in shock, after learning of Capa's death), and, finally, that he carried on an intense and scandalous love affair with classic actress, Ingrid Bergman.
Capa seemed to know everyone, make friends easily, his personality magnetic, charming, endearing. He was a ladies' man. Loved to gamble. Refused to tie himself down. Became bored easily if he wasn't in a war. From the pages and snippets of interviews, Capa's sex appeal as a dangerous, rogue photographer is crystal clear, and it's no wonder, really, why Capa spawned an entire legion of photojournalists, all chomping at the bit to play their role model.
My two favorite moments in Kershaw's biography are (1) when Capa, after being chastised as a ""vulture" by an American solider in WW II, vows to photograph war only if he himself participates in it and (2) when, shortly after losing Gerda Taro (the love of his life), Capa became even more risky, more loose with his life, as though he himself had a death wish. As Capa's friends observed, it was as though the pain of losing Gerda made Capa the brilliant photographer he was.
A fantastic read; highly recommended for anyone who loves photography, history, and iconic legends.
November 23, 2010
I don't like Robert Capa. For many years I couldn't even remember his first name, I could have sworn his name was Albert Capa. Besdies his politics, which are frustratingly contradictory, his is the kind of personality I cannot stand. He is an actor, he is a cheat, he is a lie. But people accept him because of his charm. He's funny, he has an accent, he's crazy. I don't like it when people can get by on a thin-skinned charm without the integrity many other people struggle with their whole lives.
But in the end none of that matters. What matters is he had an enormous talent, which he merely stumbled upon. He left for us images of death, but also images of delight. He just had an eye for photography. He could see things in an instant that most people wouldn't have paid attention to otherwise, & he documented extremely important moments in history. All of this tearing apart his human fabric, memories he had to live with that he couldn't express because he had to keep up his image.
This book is a wonderful read, despite having to read about other 'personalities' I cannot stand, & at least one that I absolutely hate. But Capa's life is the life of others, because he affected so many other people. His story is also history, because that is what he was documenting. So you get a brief but interesting history about the conflicts he covered as well. It's very well written with many, many sources contributing to the story. I don't think it is the absolute truth, but it is absolutely impossible to report that about a life that hid behind a camera & a smile.
But in the end none of that matters. What matters is he had an enormous talent, which he merely stumbled upon. He left for us images of death, but also images of delight. He just had an eye for photography. He could see things in an instant that most people wouldn't have paid attention to otherwise, & he documented extremely important moments in history. All of this tearing apart his human fabric, memories he had to live with that he couldn't express because he had to keep up his image.
This book is a wonderful read, despite having to read about other 'personalities' I cannot stand, & at least one that I absolutely hate. But Capa's life is the life of others, because he affected so many other people. His story is also history, because that is what he was documenting. So you get a brief but interesting history about the conflicts he covered as well. It's very well written with many, many sources contributing to the story. I don't think it is the absolute truth, but it is absolutely impossible to report that about a life that hid behind a camera & a smile.
May 15, 2012
Well-researched and comprehensive, but could have used an editor. The writing might be politely described as chaotic.
April 3, 2018
Biografia fantástica e muito bem escrita do lendário fotojornalista Robert Capa;
Sobre o biógrafo Alex Kershaw, merece cinco estrelas pela qualidade da escrita. Leitura muito fluída e prazerosa;
Sobre o biografado, literalmente um homem que se reinventou, de André Friedmann - um judeu húngaro - a Robert Capa, fotojornalista de mais de quatro guerras, sendo reconhecido como o maior fotógrafo de guerras . Sem dúvida, personalidade marcante, e por vezes contraditória; Um tipo de sujeito, que na convivência diária, gerou sentimentos intensos de amor ou animosidade, mas que nunca se passou em branco.
Sobre o biógrafo Alex Kershaw, merece cinco estrelas pela qualidade da escrita. Leitura muito fluída e prazerosa;
Sobre o biografado, literalmente um homem que se reinventou, de André Friedmann - um judeu húngaro - a Robert Capa, fotojornalista de mais de quatro guerras, sendo reconhecido como o maior fotógrafo de guerras . Sem dúvida, personalidade marcante, e por vezes contraditória; Um tipo de sujeito, que na convivência diária, gerou sentimentos intensos de amor ou animosidade, mas que nunca se passou em branco.
December 18, 2011
An account of one of the first war photographers. The writing was decent, but the construction of the book annoyed me both with bottom-page notations and the manner of footnoting. Kershaw obviously had to make some assumptions because so much of Capa's life was invented, but he told us when he was doing so. Some writers don't. No matter how much he charmed the women, Capa was obviously a man's man. I just didn't find him particularly worthy of a biography.
June 23, 2017
All I knew about Capa was that he took the famous photo "Falling Soldier," that he took nine photos of the D-Day landing, and that he carried on with Ingrid Bergman. Kershaw's biography addresses these three issues in much greater complexity as well as many other topics of which I was wholly unaware. Kershaw has a real grasp of his subject; the narrative is controlled and moves well. (Plus, with a title like this, the book has to be terrific.) Recommended.
August 13, 2014
I'm not a great one for biographies, but this is certainly worth reading. Capa's life story is never boring and his extraordinary photographs of the mid-20th century are a testament to this. I have a hefty coffee table book of his photographs which I found myself looking through as an excellent accompaniment to this. You'll probably want to do the same.
June 29, 2020
Que vida fantástica... Um homem com suas virtudes e defeitos retratado de maneira maravilhosa.
October 23, 2017
One of the best reads ever.
August 25, 2014
Alex Kershawin "Sotaa ja samppanjaa : Robert Capan elämä" (Otava, 2003) on kiinnostava läpileikkaus 1900-luvun kenties tunnetuimman valokuvaajan elämäntarinaan.
Robert Capa eli elämän, joka olisi sopinut aivan yhtä hyvin kaunokirjallisen teoksen sivuille. Jos Capaa ei olisi ollut olemassa, olisi joku epäilemättä keksinyt hänet - tai oikeammin, jos Capa ei olisi keksinyt itseään, olisi jonkun muun pitänyt keksiä hänet!
Robert Capaa ei nimittäin ollut alun perin olemassakaan. Oli vain Andre Friedmann -niminen unkarinjuutalainen, joka myöhemmin Pariisissa synnytti itsensä uudelleen kuuluisana amerikkalaisena valokuvaajana, lähinnä tarkoituksenaan vauhdittaa uraansa.
Ja millainen ura siitä tulikaan! Capa ehti valokuvaajana ottaa osaa viiteen erilaiseen sotaan eri puolilla maailmaa, joista viimeinen niistä tosin koitui hänen kohtalokseen. Hän kuvasi niin Espanjan sisällissotaa tasavaltalaisen hallituksen näkökulmasta (vasemmistolaissympatiat olivat hänellä veressä), Normandian ensimmäistä maihinnousuaaltoa Omaha Beachille, Pariisin vapautusta kuin Israelin valtion perustamistakin. Lisäksi hän perusti edelleenkin pystyssä olevan Magnum-kuvatoimiston.
Capan yksityiselämä oli myös vilkasta. Hän hummasi, hurmasi ja pelasi valtavista summista pokeria, ystävystyi ja työskenteli John Steinbeckin, Ernst Hemingwayn, Billy Wilderin ja muiden aikakautensa suurien hahmojen kanssa sekä kieltäytyi avioliitosta Ingrid Bergmanin kanssa.
Lienee siis sanomattakin selvää, ettei tämänkaltaisista elämänvaiheista voi syntyä kovinkaan tylsää kirjaa! Kershaw ei myöskään sorru yksinomaan tekemään kohteestaan romantisoitua kiiltokuvaa, vaan kuvaa myös Capan velkaantumiseen johtanutta peliriippuvuutta, sitoutumiskammoa ja taipumusta kätkeä aidot tunteensa sen naamion taakse, jonka hän itse oli luovannut.
Robert Capa eli elämän, joka olisi sopinut aivan yhtä hyvin kaunokirjallisen teoksen sivuille. Jos Capaa ei olisi ollut olemassa, olisi joku epäilemättä keksinyt hänet - tai oikeammin, jos Capa ei olisi keksinyt itseään, olisi jonkun muun pitänyt keksiä hänet!
Robert Capaa ei nimittäin ollut alun perin olemassakaan. Oli vain Andre Friedmann -niminen unkarinjuutalainen, joka myöhemmin Pariisissa synnytti itsensä uudelleen kuuluisana amerikkalaisena valokuvaajana, lähinnä tarkoituksenaan vauhdittaa uraansa.
Ja millainen ura siitä tulikaan! Capa ehti valokuvaajana ottaa osaa viiteen erilaiseen sotaan eri puolilla maailmaa, joista viimeinen niistä tosin koitui hänen kohtalokseen. Hän kuvasi niin Espanjan sisällissotaa tasavaltalaisen hallituksen näkökulmasta (vasemmistolaissympatiat olivat hänellä veressä), Normandian ensimmäistä maihinnousuaaltoa Omaha Beachille, Pariisin vapautusta kuin Israelin valtion perustamistakin. Lisäksi hän perusti edelleenkin pystyssä olevan Magnum-kuvatoimiston.
Capan yksityiselämä oli myös vilkasta. Hän hummasi, hurmasi ja pelasi valtavista summista pokeria, ystävystyi ja työskenteli John Steinbeckin, Ernst Hemingwayn, Billy Wilderin ja muiden aikakautensa suurien hahmojen kanssa sekä kieltäytyi avioliitosta Ingrid Bergmanin kanssa.
Lienee siis sanomattakin selvää, ettei tämänkaltaisista elämänvaiheista voi syntyä kovinkaan tylsää kirjaa! Kershaw ei myöskään sorru yksinomaan tekemään kohteestaan romantisoitua kiiltokuvaa, vaan kuvaa myös Capan velkaantumiseen johtanutta peliriippuvuutta, sitoutumiskammoa ja taipumusta kätkeä aidot tunteensa sen naamion taakse, jonka hän itse oli luovannut.
April 8, 2020
Capa's equally fascinating professional and personal stories are told with love and attention to detail. The book includes accounts of Capa himself and many of his contemporaries. This paints a vivid picture of the period of Nazi's ascent to power and it's devastating consequences. The author usually presents several points of view immersing the reader into the era and feelings of the people. Mesmerizing life story very well told.
May 5, 2015
A pretty good read for someone that you sort of cheered for, but then found him spiraling out of control with women, gambling, drinking and kind of giving up on life. I am a big fan of the author and finally had a chance of reading this book, which was one of his first books. I can see how some of his notes from this book were able to go into books like the Liberator, The Bedford Boys(awesome book) and possibly the interest of doing The Envoy (great book also).
But the biography had some great quotes and research in the beginning of the book, but it seemed to skip a bunch of time periods towards the end of the book (his life) that weren't explained. He also never explained how he got his camera back after he had to pawn it to get money, when he was talking about it towards the beginning of the book. He had talked about how much he loved this camera and how it was his life for the most part. Maybe I am nippicking, but after reading of his other books and really enjoying all of the them (except The Few, just was too short and not enough substance) with his detail of everything, this was just on my mind for the remainder of the book.
But the biography had some great quotes and research in the beginning of the book, but it seemed to skip a bunch of time periods towards the end of the book (his life) that weren't explained. He also never explained how he got his camera back after he had to pawn it to get money, when he was talking about it towards the beginning of the book. He had talked about how much he loved this camera and how it was his life for the most part. Maybe I am nippicking, but after reading of his other books and really enjoying all of the them (except The Few, just was too short and not enough substance) with his detail of everything, this was just on my mind for the remainder of the book.
May 16, 2020
Robert Capa AKA Andre Freidman, the Hungarian Jewish refugee that recreated himself as an American Photographer and international playboy is brilliantly documented in this slim volume.
Capa made his name during the Spanish Civil War and cemented his reputation during World War II as the pre-eminent war photographer. Always getting as close to the action as possible, he lived his "civilian" life with equal abandon. Drinking, gambling, and always in the company of the beautiful women who found him irresistible.
Going on to photograph the founding of the state of Israel, he finally met his end in the earliest days of the conflict in Vietnam. His legacy of photojournalism though remains indelible.
This is a great little biography, the only drawback being the lack of Capa's photos that the author was unfortunately not allowed to legally reproduce.
Capa made his name during the Spanish Civil War and cemented his reputation during World War II as the pre-eminent war photographer. Always getting as close to the action as possible, he lived his "civilian" life with equal abandon. Drinking, gambling, and always in the company of the beautiful women who found him irresistible.
Going on to photograph the founding of the state of Israel, he finally met his end in the earliest days of the conflict in Vietnam. His legacy of photojournalism though remains indelible.
This is a great little biography, the only drawback being the lack of Capa's photos that the author was unfortunately not allowed to legally reproduce.
November 18, 2019
A good life long biography of a fascinating man. The book is full of quotes from friends. Capa seemed to know everyone and left lasting impressions. I learned from a footnote in this book that Capa’s book “slightly out of focus” was originally to be a screenplay. That explains a lot. His life story is a great way to explore the early twentieth century.
What I learned: Hungary had a protofascist dictator, Admiral Horthy. Admiral of a landlocked country. Capa has a photojournalism award named after him. Ingrid Bergman made a movie in the thirties for a Nazi film studio. Steinbeck was a Soviet sympathizer. Andy Rooney was a draftee who served as a reporter for the Stars and Stripes in WWII.
In the forties a person could be so famous for photojournalism or harmonica playing, that they could sleep with movie stars.
What I learned: Hungary had a protofascist dictator, Admiral Horthy. Admiral of a landlocked country. Capa has a photojournalism award named after him. Ingrid Bergman made a movie in the thirties for a Nazi film studio. Steinbeck was a Soviet sympathizer. Andy Rooney was a draftee who served as a reporter for the Stars and Stripes in WWII.
In the forties a person could be so famous for photojournalism or harmonica playing, that they could sleep with movie stars.
July 8, 2016
For a book on a world famous photojournalist, it ain't half missing decent photos! Capa's life plays out like a quintessential Hollywood adventurer, bouncing from assignment to assignment, downing cocktails with literary greats one minute and chatting up Ingrid Bergman the next. Could have used more interiority as the poor man unravelled from his perpetual case of ptsd, and I found the ending pretty abrupt. Indiana Jones with a viewfinder. Banged through it in a week or two.
September 2, 2014
This book paints a vivid portrait of the esteemed war photographer and founder of Magnum, Robert Capa. Having previously read Slightly Out of Focus, Capa's memoir covering the D-Day landings and WWII experiences, this book paints a full picture of Capa's life and completes the story of a truly fascinating man who lived life to the fullest.
Currently reading
May 3, 2010Plowing through this- easy to read, suffers greatly from the lack of photos. The author couldn't obtain rights to use the Capa photographs, but this is an excellent companion piece to his body of work.
August 15, 2011
"Capa miał już przygotowaną piersiówkę z koniakiem i termos z mrożoną herbatą. 'To będzie piękny materiał - powiedział. - Obiecuję wzorowe zachowanie. Nie będę ubliżał kolegom po fachu i ani razu nie wspomnę, jak doskonałe robię zdjęcia.'"
February 22, 2008
An incredible tale of a pioneering photojournalist - it reads like a spy fantasy, only better!
April 24, 2014
Curiosa vida: fotografia, o perigo das guerras, bebidas, mulheres, amigos entre gente famosa, jogo... Não é pra todos, mas ele viveu. O livro dá conta de nos mostrar a biografia de Capa.
June 25, 2015
A well-researched accounting of a fascinating life and personality. Perhaps a bit romanticized, but engaging, provoking, and enlightening.
October 16, 2015
Amazing,exceptionally thorough book which gives a deep insight into Capas life and the times he lived in.Well- written, addictive and gripping.
August 8, 2018
Great story with a lot of women, a few cameras and just one focal length.
August 10, 2024
I knew I would enjoy this biography of the photojournalist Robert Capa, when I read the multi-national acknowledgements that starts off the book. In these Alex Kershaw points to the many sources of information that he had gathered in four years, including his interviews with Capa’s friends and their offspring. Then, unfortunately, the acknowledgements ended with this statement: “Sadly, and despite being led to believe that the incorporation of Capa’s photographs might be possible, I was not granted permission to use a single image because of this book’s unauthorized nature.” I was dumbstruck. How the heck am I going to fully understand Kershaw’s story without the photographs in front of me that made Capa famous?
Thank goodness, I found a solution. As I read the book on my kindle, I would find the specific photograph on my phone that Kershaw was discussing. To be honest I only did this for a few of Capa’s photographs. First of all, there is Capa’s most controversial photograph, the death of a republican soldier during the Spanish Civil War. Then there are the photographs taken during the first assault on Omaha beach on D-Day June 6th 1944. (Most of Capa’s D-Day photographs were unfortunately lost during their processing.) I really loved the photograph where Picasso carries a parasol for his current girlfriend Françoise Gilot in August 1946.
If you want to look at more of Capa’s photographs, I would recommend the Magnum website www.magnumphotos.com . Magnum Photos Agency is the cooperative agency that was set up in 1947 by Capa and a number of his friends.
On account of the extensive range of information that he has gathered about Capa’s professional and personal life and also because of his excellent narrative style, Kershaw has produced a cracking warts and all biography. He doesn’t sugar-coat the story of this extraordinary Hungarian American, who through his charm, courage, mishaps, and quite a bit of suffering, became one of the world’s leading photojournalists. Along the way Capa indulged himself in many habits, including drinking and gambling and I loved the tales of his predilection for lengthy baths. He was also a serious womaniser with many loves across the world, including the photojournalist Gerda Taro and the actress Ingrid Bergman. Another part of his character that comes across was his restlessness when away from conflict zones and how he was eager to be back in the world’s current hot spots to take his photographs, even though this itch might lead to Capa himself becoming a casualty of war, as he did in Indo-China in May 1954.
Capa was friends with a number of leading artists including Earnest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. One chapter I found fascinating was when Capa and Steinbeck visited the Soviet Union in 1947 and where the secret police made sure Capa didn’t take any unauthorised photographs, such of the ruins or the people of Stalingrad, in case such photos diminished the world’s view of the USSR.
At a time when journalism is under threat across the world, (including the recent arrest in Russia of Evan Gershkovich from The Wall Street Journal), reading the story of the flawed, yet charming Robert Capa really opened up my eyes to the risks and demands faced by amazing women and men, like Margaret Bourke-White, Gerda Taro and Don McCullin, skilled photojournalists who look for that photograph which provides striking eye-witness evidence of the world’s brutal conflicts.
Thank goodness, I found a solution. As I read the book on my kindle, I would find the specific photograph on my phone that Kershaw was discussing. To be honest I only did this for a few of Capa’s photographs. First of all, there is Capa’s most controversial photograph, the death of a republican soldier during the Spanish Civil War. Then there are the photographs taken during the first assault on Omaha beach on D-Day June 6th 1944. (Most of Capa’s D-Day photographs were unfortunately lost during their processing.) I really loved the photograph where Picasso carries a parasol for his current girlfriend Françoise Gilot in August 1946.
If you want to look at more of Capa’s photographs, I would recommend the Magnum website www.magnumphotos.com . Magnum Photos Agency is the cooperative agency that was set up in 1947 by Capa and a number of his friends.
On account of the extensive range of information that he has gathered about Capa’s professional and personal life and also because of his excellent narrative style, Kershaw has produced a cracking warts and all biography. He doesn’t sugar-coat the story of this extraordinary Hungarian American, who through his charm, courage, mishaps, and quite a bit of suffering, became one of the world’s leading photojournalists. Along the way Capa indulged himself in many habits, including drinking and gambling and I loved the tales of his predilection for lengthy baths. He was also a serious womaniser with many loves across the world, including the photojournalist Gerda Taro and the actress Ingrid Bergman. Another part of his character that comes across was his restlessness when away from conflict zones and how he was eager to be back in the world’s current hot spots to take his photographs, even though this itch might lead to Capa himself becoming a casualty of war, as he did in Indo-China in May 1954.
Capa was friends with a number of leading artists including Earnest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. One chapter I found fascinating was when Capa and Steinbeck visited the Soviet Union in 1947 and where the secret police made sure Capa didn’t take any unauthorised photographs, such of the ruins or the people of Stalingrad, in case such photos diminished the world’s view of the USSR.
At a time when journalism is under threat across the world, (including the recent arrest in Russia of Evan Gershkovich from The Wall Street Journal), reading the story of the flawed, yet charming Robert Capa really opened up my eyes to the risks and demands faced by amazing women and men, like Margaret Bourke-White, Gerda Taro and Don McCullin, skilled photojournalists who look for that photograph which provides striking eye-witness evidence of the world’s brutal conflicts.
December 4, 2023
Robert Capa was such an entertaining and intriguing guy that I've read most of the books about him. I preferred this book to the Richard Whelan bio that I read years ago. While Whelan's book was informative and I think accurate, his style was anything but exciting. Bloodless is the word that comes to mind. If there is one thing Capa was by anyone's estimation, it was exciting, and I felt a book about him should reflect some of that excitement. Capa's personality enlivens his own memoir of WWII, Slightly Out of Focus, and lives up to my fangirl dream of what he was like in real life. as does his depiction in biographies and autobiographies by many of his celebrated friends, including Irwin Shaw, Martha Gellhorn, Gael Elton Mayo, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, and many others. The striking thing about these friendships was how much they all loved him and how deeply they mourned his passing. especially Ingrid Bergman who had loved him madly (I think that's a fair description) and, I think, never stopped loving him. He died, as you would expect the world's most famous war photographer to die, violently and much too young. I heard Isabella Rossellini, Ingrid's daughter, say that of all her mother's romances, Capa is the one she would most like to have known. I know just how she feels.
May 3, 2018
I'd like to rate this more highly, but editorial errors and an overabundance of flow-spoiling footnotes won't allow it. Call it a 3.5. Maybe a 3.75.
I have read three Capa biographies; this one, Richard Whelan's "official" Robert Capa: A Biography, and Capa's own memoir, Slightly Out of Focus. It's been a long time since I read Whelan, and SOOF is an admittedly embellished self-portrait bordering on fiction, but I think I can reasonably conclude that this book, Bllod and Champagne contains the truest, most unvarnished look at Capa's woefully short life. However, it's narrative is sufficiently disjointed that it seems more like a sequential series of anecdotes than a full biography. Also, some information about the historical backgrounds of the events he covered (and participated in) would have been appreciated. Still, it is an interesting read for those who find photojournalism interesting, or those who want a real-life example of a swashbuckling anti-hero. Recommended, with caveats.
I have read three Capa biographies; this one, Richard Whelan's "official" Robert Capa: A Biography, and Capa's own memoir, Slightly Out of Focus. It's been a long time since I read Whelan, and SOOF is an admittedly embellished self-portrait bordering on fiction, but I think I can reasonably conclude that this book, Bllod and Champagne contains the truest, most unvarnished look at Capa's woefully short life. However, it's narrative is sufficiently disjointed that it seems more like a sequential series of anecdotes than a full biography. Also, some information about the historical backgrounds of the events he covered (and participated in) would have been appreciated. Still, it is an interesting read for those who find photojournalism interesting, or those who want a real-life example of a swashbuckling anti-hero. Recommended, with caveats.
December 5, 2022
As Alex Kershaw’s masterful biography amply demonstrates, Robert Capa, like his contemporary and acquaintance Ernest Hemingway, insisted on living his life “on the edge”—deliberately putting himself in harm’s way; having affairs with numerous women (including, most famously, Ingrid Bergman) without committing himself to any one of them; frittering away at the gaming table most of the money he earned instead of using it to establish a secure future for himself; and finally dying, tragically and prematurely at the age of 40, by stepping on a land mine while trying to take a picture during the last throes of the Indo-China War, shortly after the fall of Dien Bien Phu, in May 1954. It was as though he was driven inexorably onward by inner demons toward an inevitable and unavoidable destiny, and unfortunate that the life of a man who took so many of the best-known photographs of all time should have been cut short at such a tender age.
Capa could never reconcile the mutually exclusive, always conflicting elements of his character, and it was this constant battle within himself that drove him to seek out the world’s hottest trouble spots, and document them, instead of securing less dangerous and more remunerative steady employment; impelled him to have numerous liaisons rather than settling down with the “love of his life” (and there were several of those); and caused him to gamble away on numerous occasions the very money he had earned by risking his life. To use an analogy from science fiction, it was as though he was the Starship Enterprise, driven on at Warp Factor 9 by the mutual annihilation of matter and antimatter. Capa often declared himself weary of seeing so much death and destruction even as he continued to seek it out.
Whatever the complex mixture of motivations that drove him onward, his photographic legacy is justly famous and unquestionable. He took the most famous photo to emerge from the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and the best known photos from D-Day (he was the only journalist who went ashore with the first wave on Omaha Beach; many images from the Arab-Israeli War of 1948; and of course the Indo-China War. Had he lived, he probably would have wanted to be at Suez in 1956, the Lebanon crisis of 1958, the Bay of Pigs, and of course in Vietnam. Those photos will be his enduring legacy.
***** review by Chuck Graham *****
Capa could never reconcile the mutually exclusive, always conflicting elements of his character, and it was this constant battle within himself that drove him to seek out the world’s hottest trouble spots, and document them, instead of securing less dangerous and more remunerative steady employment; impelled him to have numerous liaisons rather than settling down with the “love of his life” (and there were several of those); and caused him to gamble away on numerous occasions the very money he had earned by risking his life. To use an analogy from science fiction, it was as though he was the Starship Enterprise, driven on at Warp Factor 9 by the mutual annihilation of matter and antimatter. Capa often declared himself weary of seeing so much death and destruction even as he continued to seek it out.
Whatever the complex mixture of motivations that drove him onward, his photographic legacy is justly famous and unquestionable. He took the most famous photo to emerge from the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and the best known photos from D-Day (he was the only journalist who went ashore with the first wave on Omaha Beach; many images from the Arab-Israeli War of 1948; and of course the Indo-China War. Had he lived, he probably would have wanted to be at Suez in 1956, the Lebanon crisis of 1958, the Bay of Pigs, and of course in Vietnam. Those photos will be his enduring legacy.
***** review by Chuck Graham *****
August 16, 2018
Blood and Champagne: the life and times of Robert Capa is Alex Kershaw’s “warts & all” 2002 biography of Capa. The price Kershaw paid for this unvarnished portrait was being denied rights to print any of Capa’s photographs. This restriction, however, fails to detract from the value and comprehensiveness of the portrait. In my opinion, it may be an advantage in that the focus is clearly Capa, not Capa’s work. I suspect that any reader interested in this bio will be already familiar with Capa’s corpus. The result is Capa emerging as fully human, a far richer & complex individual than the standard caricature in popular imagination; though it must be admitted that Capa himself sought to project that caricature.
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