Death in the Afternoon

Hemingway's passion for Spain and for the bullfight is renowned. In Death in the Afternoon he shares the sights, the sounds, the excitement and, above all, the knowledge which fuelled his passion for the 'the emotional and spiritual intensity and pure classic beauty that can be produced by a man, an animal, and a piece of scarlet serge draped on a stick.' First published in 1932, Death in the Afternoon remains a classic for its historical account of the Corrida, for the stories of the great matadors, their banderilleros and picadors - the men who live every day with death - and for the stories of the bulls whose bravery is the primal root of the bullfight. Death in the Afternoon also contains some of the finest short stories Hemingway ever wrote, inspired by the intense life as well as the inevitable death of those hot, violent afternoons.