Foreign fighters and war volunteers: between myth and reality.

The image of the foreign fighter (or foreign war volunteer), whether true or imagined, is clearly a potent one. This article aims to challenge some of the popular images associated with foreign volunteering. First, it examines the gap between the often romantic and idealistic descriptions of foreign volunteering and the far less romantic realities they faced. It then explores the exaggerated importance that has often been ascribed to cohorts of foreign volunteers by their contemporaries, using both historical and recent examples. Finally, the article illustrates how the image that surrounds foreign volunteers is sufficiently powerful to influence the way conflicts abroad are remembered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]