Abstract
The present article attempts to expose and debunk some myths of the participation of the English-speaking volunteers in the XV International Brigade that have frequently been overlooked. Our assumptions are based on a wide range of archival and well documented sources. From the very beginning there were many elements that merged together to offer all kinds of exaggerations, legends and self-aggrandizing images. Journal reports, scholarly articles, posters, poems and symbols have been exploited with the purpose of turning a very harsh reality into an idealized, over-fantasized experience. Ernest Hemingway (a war correspondent) was perhaps the most conspicuous case, and Esmond Romilly and John Sommerfield (both fighting in the defence of Madrid) were the first to give a romantic vision of their war experiences. In contrast, George Orwell, Laurie Lee, Jason Gurney, William Herrick or Alvah Bessie are examples of volunteers who denounce the lack of organization, the scarce military training they received or even the excessive, in their opinion, control by their officers on their daily lives.
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