Serving as a major new interpretation of the historical, political, and cultural legacy of the International Brigades, this book dissents from the orthodox interpretation of this period in history. Questioned are the role of artists and intellectuals in the Spanish Civil War, the basis of the Republic's claim to spiritual superiority, and the assumptions behind the notion that art and the good cause are necessarily synonymous. Argued is the notion that the civil war can be seen as the climax of the struggle between the claims of culture and art for autonomy and even for supremacy and the demands of political commitment. This conflict is traced through the reactions of figures such as W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender, George Orwell, and Benjamin Britten, among others.