Foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War Contingent. While not supported officially, many American volunteers such as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade fought for the Republicans. 'Spain' became the cause célèbre for the left-leaning intelligentsia across the Western world, and many prominent artists and writers entered the Republic's service. As well, it attracted a large number of foreign left-wing working class men, for whom the war offered not only idealistic adventure but also an escape from post-Depression unemployment. Among the more famous foreigners participating on the Republic's side was George Orwell, who went on to write about his experiences in "Homage to Catalonia". Orwell's novel "Animal Farm" was
The Spanish Civil War and the British Left Franco". Tom Buchanan, writing in "The English Historical Review", questioned Mates's commentary on working-class Catholics' reactions to the Red Terror and the lack of the detail offered on topics including aid initiatives, but described the book as " a valuable addition to the burgeoning literature on Britain and the Spanish Civil War, and one that deserves to be read alongside—and as a corrective to—the 'national' studies." In "History", Paul Corthorn questioned Mates's account of the influence of the "popular frontist" interpretation of events, but praised his engagement with Buchanan on the question of Catholics and described the book as "a