I was reading reviews of a couple of books about the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War, especially the British contingent. The writer suggested that 'It was probably the last time a group of Englishmen with rifles allowed themselves the exhilaration of that belief.'. That belief being that they could change the course of history.
Maybe, but I doubt it . It depends on how you define Englishman. It is true that there has not been a cause that as so energised young men on the left. But how different is it really from young British Muslims making their way into the ranks of Al Qaeda? Are their motives so different from the young communists who headed over the Pyrennes? I wonder if in10 years time there will a literature about those lives?
Maybe, but I doubt it . It depends on how you define Englishman. It is true that there has not been a cause that as so energised young men on the left. But how different is it really from young British Muslims making their way into the ranks of Al Qaeda? Are their motives so different from the young communists who headed over the Pyrennes? I wonder if in10 years time there will a literature about those lives?
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