Always a journalist / Konstantin Simonov.

Translation of: Ostai︠u︡sʹ zhurnalistom.

Several black and white illustrations of Simonov with his family in addition to illustrations of Simonov with famous actors, writers, and political figures beginning in the 1930's through the 1960's.

Commentaries (pages 313 - 319) provides additional chapter specific information with eighty-six subscript notated endnotes. Topics include further information on Hemingway, Tolstoy, and Mikhail Bulgakov in addition to bibliographical information on Simonov's writings noting the first publication where of his writings.

Foreword / Lazar Lazarev --

I: From June to December -- Days and nights -- The winter of forty-three -- The extermination camp -- Speech to a rally in San Francisco -- A letter to the editor of Freie Welt -- Do the Russians wants war? -- Surplus value -- Forty-two -- The inevitable goal -- The most basic human right --

II : Vítězslav Nezval -- From notes about Ivan Bunin -- Nazim Hikmet -- Ernst Busch -- Meetings with Charlie Chaplin -- Elsa Triolet -- From notes about Alexander Tvardovsky -- Pablo Neruda -- The Khalkhin Gol (notes about Georgi Zhukov) --

III : Sholokhov -- Pirosmani -- A few short words about a sense of responsibility -- Shattering the illusions -- Reading Tolstoy (for the Centennial of War and Peace) -- Thinking about Hemingway -- About three novels by Mikhail Bulgakov -- The lessons of history and the duty of the writer -- History on film -- Commentaries--

Known primarily for his World War II writings on the Soviet struggle against the Nazi's, Konstantin Simonov first gained notoriety at just 25-years-old in 1941 for his published war poems, "Notes of a Young Man". His first-hand accounts as a war correspondent captivated the Soviet public. This was not his first time writing as a war correspondent having been engaged in a similar capacity in two other previous military actions beginning in 1939. After the war, Simonov would go on to write four decades worth of writings including novels, short stories, poetry, plays, film scripts, literary criticism and articles in popular magazines and newspapers. Staunchly anti-fascist and anti-nuclear war in his political leanings, Simonov used the main thrust of his writings to showcase the horror of war. "Always a Journalist" is therefore primarily a collection of his writings that appeared in various newspapers and magazines. This texts opens with Simonov's cinematic first-hand war accounts including revelations regarding each of the major battles on the Soviet-German front. The second part of the book is primarily a collection of Simonov's musings on famous authors, artists, film directors and generals. Noted personalities include Charlie Chaplin, Pablo Neruda, Elsa Triolet, Nazim Hikmet, and Ernst Busch. And finally, the third part of the book contains various essays and notes on literature and the arts including his musings on the work of Lev Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Mikhail Sholokhov among others.

"During the four decades of his career as an author [Siminov] closely followed the developments in the theater, cinema, fine arts, TV, and took an interest in the collection and management of archives. His deep involvement in literature and the arts made him one of the most influential cultural figures of the U.S.S.R." -- From the Foreword

Translated from Russian to English.