A Farewell to Arms is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961), first published in 1929. The novel is told through the point of view of Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian army during World War I. The title is taken from a poem by 16th century English dramatist George Peele.
The novel is said to have been written at the home of Hemingway's in-laws in Piggott, Arkansas and at the home of friends of Hemingway's wife Pauline Pfeiffer W. Malcolm and Ruth Lowry home at 6435 Indian Lane, Mission Hills, Kansas while she was awaiting delivery of their baby. His wife Pauline underwent a caesarean section as Hemingway was writing about Catherine Barkley's childbirth.
On the surface, A Farewell to Arms is about the tragic romance between an American soldier Frederic Henry, and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse. Below the surface, the novel is about World War I and individual tragedy within the larger picture of greater tragedy. The novel portrays the cynicism of soldiers, the futility of war, and the displacement of populations. It is perhaps Hemingway's bleakest novel. Hemingway's stature as an American writer was secured with the publication of A Farewell to Arms. A Farewell to Arms was adapted to film in 1932 and again in 1957.
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