Arielli, Nir 1975- creator author. text bibliography mau 2017 monographic eng

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295 pages ; 25 cm What makes people fight and risk their lives for a country other than their own? Why did diverse individuals such as the poet Lord Byron, the writer George Orwell, the Argentinean revolutionary Che Guevara, and the young Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden all turn to foreign military service? From Byron to bin Laden makes a historian's examines the phenomenon of war volunteers who have travelled abroad to fight on the basis of a personal decision, without being sent by their governments and not strictly for the sake of material gain. Although fighting for very different causes, these volunteers shared a number of commonalities; they tended to superimpose their beliefs and perceptions on the wars they joined, while a personal search for meaning invariably underlined their actions. Through a comprehensive study of the history of foreign volunteering from the wars of the French Revolution to the present, the book opens up a broad range of questions that relate to individual motivations, ideology, gender, state-citizen relations, international law, military significance, radicalization and the memory of war.-- Only a nation in arms? "foreigners" in military service before 1815 -- Attractive conflicts: the changing ideological landscape -- A search for meaning: deciphering motivations -- Thoughts of home: a typology of volunteer-state relations -- Controlling the flow: governmental responses, legislation, and support networks -- Winning wars? assessing military significance -- The dark side: troublemakers, soldiers of misfortune, and terrorists -- Links in a chain: memory and myth. Nir Arielli. Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-283) and index. Foreign enlistment History Military service, Voluntary History Soldiers Psychology UB321..A75 2017 355.2/2362 9780674979567 2017017573 MH/DLC 170525 20220324115520.0 19700261 eng