The French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion

Author: Douglas Porch

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2010-11-01

Total Pages: 848

ISBN-13: 1628732393

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The French Foreign Legion is a complete, captivating study of the famed fighting force, from its inception in 1831 to modern times. Historian Douglas Porch chronicles the Legion’s involvement in Spain, Mexico, Indochina, Madagascar, WWI, Vietnam, and Algiers (to name a few) and delves into the inner workings of legionnaires and their captains. Known for draconian discipline and shrouded in mystery, the secrets of the Legion are guarded by those who have gained admittance into its elite society. In this thoroughly researched and impressive account, Porch reveals the mysteries surrounding a Legion of “unparalleled exoticism, pathos, and drama.”

The French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion

Author: Jean-Denis G.G. Lepage

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2016-04-18

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0786462531

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This book gives the reader a straightforward and continuous survey of the history of the French Foreign Legion. By outlining the Legion's vicissitudes, victorious campaigns, epic marches, heroic and sometimes hopeless stands, dirtiest combats and dramatic defeats, but also by briefly placing the Legion back in the historical background of France, and by describing its development, organization, uniforms, equipments and weapons, the author hopes to dispel myths, and try to give a true and accurate picture of what the French Foreign Legion has been from 1831 until today. There are well-researched, detailed line drawings throughout.

French Foreign Legion 1831–71
French Foreign Legion 1831–71

Author: Martin Windrow

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-12-15

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13: 1472817729

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Concluding his bestselling series on the French Foreign Legion, Martin Windrow explores the formation and development of the Legion during its 'first generation'. Raised in 1831, the Legion's formative years would see it fight continuous and savage campaigns in Algeria, aid the Spanish government in the Carlist War, join the British in the Crimean campaign and fight alongside the Swiss in the bloody battles of Magenta and Solferino. With the ever-changing combat environments they found themselves in, the Legion had to constantly adapt in order to survive. Taking advantage of the latest research, this lavishly illustrated study explores the evolution of the uniforms and kit of the French Foreign Legion, from their early campaigns in Algeria through to their iconic Battle of Camerone in Mexico and their role in the Franco-Prussian war.

The French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion

Author: Douglas Boyd

Publisher: Ian Allen Pub

Published: 2010-01

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 9780711035003

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The French Foreign Legion is an extraordinary and unique army, specifically created for foreign nationals wishing to serve in the French Armed Forces, but commanded by French officers. For nearly two centuries, adventure seekers or men on the run from all around the globe have found a home in the Foreign Legion and shed blood for France. In this book, author Douglas Boyd has been given unrivalled access to the Legion to tell its story from its inception in the 1830s, when it was primarily used to protect and expand the French colonial empire during the nineteenth century, but it has also fought in almost all French wars including the Franco-Prussian War and both World Wars. The Legion is today known as an elite military unit whose training focuses not only on traditional military skills, but also on its strong esprit de corps.

Legionnaire
Legionnaire

Author: Simon Murray

Publisher: Presidio Press

Published: 2007-12-18

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0307415813

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“A pleasure to read and nearly impossible to put down.” –Army Times “Embodies an experience that many have enjoyed in fantasy–few in reality.” –The Washington Post The French Foreign Legion–mysterious, romantic, deadly–is filled with men of dubious character, and hardly the place for a proper Englishman just nineteen years of age. Yet in 1960, Simon Murray traveled alone to Paris, Marseilles, and ultimately Algeria to fulfill the toughest contract of his life: a five-year stint in the Legion. Along the way, he kept a diary. Legionnaire is a compelling, firsthand account of Murray’s experience with this legendary band of soldiers. This gripping journal offers stark evidence that the Legion’s reputation for pushing men to their breaking points and beyond is well deserved. In the fierce, sun-baked North African desert, strong men cracked under brutal officers, merciless training methods, and barbarous punishments. Yet Murray survived, even thrived. For he shared one trait with these hard men from all nations and backgrounds: a determination never to surrender. “The drama, excitement, and color of a good guts-and-glory thriller.” –Dr. Henry Kissinger

Fighting for the French Foreign Legion
Fighting for the French Foreign Legion

Author: Alex Lochrie

Publisher: Grub Street Publishers

Published: 2009-11-19

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1848846967

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A soldier’s true story of danger and adventure as a modern-day legionnaire in Kuwait, Bosnia, and beyond. With no French language ability, Alex Lochrie approached recruiters for the French Foreign Legion in Paris and embarked on the demanding selection process that followed. When he was accepted, he and other prospective legionnaires were sent to Southern France to begin the harsh recruit training course. The mix of nationalities and backgrounds among his fellows was enormous. New members are traditionally allowed to change their identities—and Lochrie chose to alter his age, becoming twenty-eight instead of thirty-eight. Elite paratrooper training followed in Corsica before Lochrie earned his wings. The FFL is never far from the front line, and in this book he tells of challenging active service in former French colonies in Africa as well as during the first Gulf War, evicting Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, and operations in Bosnia and Sarajevo. This gripping account lifts the veil of mystery and myth, pulling you into the action—and revealing much about the realities of service in the Foreign Legion.

Legio Patria Nostra
Legio Patria Nostra

Author: U.s. Army Command and General Staff College

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2014-07-02

Total Pages: 106

ISBN-13: 9781500383657

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The French Foreign Legion is an integral part of the recently professionalized French regular army, yet outside of Europe and Asia, the organization remains an obscure and sometimes misunderstood entity with even some American military officers unaware of its existence. Many believed the Legion went the way of French imperialism after the country's defeat in the Algerian War in 1962. In those post-war years, however, the Legion shed its mercenary image through reorganization and real world operations and quietly rebuilt itself into a ready and relevant fighting force. This book summarizes the Legion's history, describes its current structure, and characterizes its place in the French military complex. In doing so, it shows that despite a rocky early history, a mercenary reputation, and recent obscurity, the French Foreign Legion has built and maintained a level of readiness and competency that is more than equal to that of other professional military organizations and it remains a vital component of the French military infrastructure.

Appel
Appel

Author: Joel Adam Struthers

Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press

Published: 2019-03-29

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 1771121068

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Appel: A Canadian in the French Foreign Legion is the first-hand account of the author’s six years as a professional soldier during the 1990s, and his experience in the Legion's elite Groupe des Commandos Parachutistes (GCP). Joel Struthers recounts the dangers and demands of military life, from the rigours of recruitment and operational training in the rugged mountains of France, to face-to-face combat in the grasslands of some of Africa’s most troubled nations. Told through the eyes of a soldier, and interspersed with humorous anecdotes, Appel is a fascinating story that debunks myths about the French Foreign Legion and shows it more accurately as a professional arm of the French military. Struthers provides insight into the rigorous discipline that the Legion instills in its young recruits, – who trade their identities as individuals for a life of adventure and a role in a unified fighting force whose motto is “Honour and Loyalty.” Foreword by Col. Benoit Desmeulles, former commanding officer of the Legions 2e Régiment Étranger Parachutistes.

Beau Geste
Beau Geste

Author: Percival Christopher Wren

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2010-02-26

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 1445297272

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The first in Percival Christorpher Wren's series, Beau Geste, Beau Sabreur and Beau Ideal.

Voices of the Foreign Legion
Voices of the Foreign Legion

Author: Adrian D. Gilbert

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2010-04-06

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 1626367841

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The French Foreign Legion has established a reputation as the most formidable of military forces. Created as a means of protecting French interests abroad, the legion spearheaded French colonialism in North Africa during the nineteenth century. Accepting volunteers from all parts of the world, the legion acquired an aura of mystery—and a less than enviable reputation for brutality within its ranks. Attracting recruits from all over the world, these new soldiers explain in their own words why they submitted themselves to such brutal training. Voices of the Foreign Legion looks at how the legion selects its recruits, where they come from, and why they seek a life of incredible hardship and danger. It also analyzes the legion’s strict attitude toward discipline, questions why desertion is a perennial problem, and assesses the legion’s military achievements since its formation in 1831. Its scope ranges from the conquest of the colonies in Africa and the Far East, through the horrors of the two World Wars, to the bitter but ultimately hopeless battles to maintain France’s imperial possessions.