Hemingway enjoys an idyllic childhood in Oak Park, Illinois but, yearning for adventure, volunteers for the Red Cross during World War I. He marries Hadley Richardson, moves to Paris and begins his life as a writer.

In Paris, Hemingway publishes In Our Time and The Sun Also Rises. He finds critical and commercial success with his second novel, A Farewell to Arms.

Having achieved a level of fame rarely seen in the literary world, Hemingway settles in Key West with Pauline Pfeiffer and spends his time seeking new conquests in the natural world – marlin fishing in the Gulf Stream and hunting in Africa.

Inspired by the fight against Fascism, Hemingway reports on the Spanish Civil War and begins a tempestuous romance with Martha Gellhorn.

Reeling from his split with Martha, Hemingway attaches himself to the U.S. Army as it moves through Normandy and liberates Paris. After the war he tries to start a new life with Mary Welsh but is beset with personal tragedies and professional mishaps. Hemingway publishes The Old Man and the Sea.

Hemingway wins the Nobel Prize in Literature but eventually is overcome by addiction, physical trauma and depression.