Author: Adrian D. Gilbert
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1629140929
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388
Book Description
The French Foreign Legion has built a reputation as one of the world’s most formidable and colorful military institutions. Established as a means of absorbing foreign troublemakers, 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 extreme brutality within its ranks. Voices of the Foreign Legion explores how the Legion selects its recruits, their native lands, and why these warriors seek a life full of hardship and danger. It analyzes the Legion’s brutal attitude toward discipline, questions why desertion has been a perennial problem, and assesses the Legion’s remarkable military achievements since its formation in the year 1831. This is the real story of the Legion, featuring firsthand accounts from the men who have fought in its ranks. 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, battle to maintain France’s far-flung imperial possessions. The story is brought fully up-to-date with accounts and anecdotes from those contemporary foreign legionnaires who continue to fight for French interests around the globe. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Voices of the Foreign Legion
Author: Adrian D. Gilbert
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1629140929
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388
Book Description
The French Foreign Legion has built a reputation as one of the world’s most formidable and colorful military institutions. Established as a means of absorbing foreign troublemakers, 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 extreme brutality within its ranks. Voices of the Foreign Legion explores how the Legion selects its recruits, their native lands, and why these warriors seek a life full of hardship and danger. It analyzes the Legion’s brutal attitude toward discipline, questions why desertion has been a perennial problem, and assesses the Legion’s remarkable military achievements since its formation in the year 1831. This is the real story of the Legion, featuring firsthand accounts from the men who have fought in its ranks. 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, battle to maintain France’s far-flung imperial possessions. The story is brought fully up-to-date with accounts and anecdotes from those contemporary foreign legionnaires who continue to fight for French interests around the globe. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1629140929
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388
Book Description
The French Foreign Legion has built a reputation as one of the world’s most formidable and colorful military institutions. Established as a means of absorbing foreign troublemakers, 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 extreme brutality within its ranks. Voices of the Foreign Legion explores how the Legion selects its recruits, their native lands, and why these warriors seek a life full of hardship and danger. It analyzes the Legion’s brutal attitude toward discipline, questions why desertion has been a perennial problem, and assesses the Legion’s remarkable military achievements since its formation in the year 1831. This is the real story of the Legion, featuring firsthand accounts from the men who have fought in its ranks. 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, battle to maintain France’s far-flung imperial possessions. The story is brought fully up-to-date with accounts and anecdotes from those contemporary foreign legionnaires who continue to fight for French interests around the globe. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Hidden Soldier
Author: Padraig O'Keeffe
Publisher: The O'Brien Press
ISBN: 1847176224
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
Pádraig O'Keeffe joined the elite and secretive French Foreign Legion at the age of twenty, seeking a challenge that would absorb his interests and intensity. He served with the Legion in Cambodia and Bosnia, then returned to civilian life, but military habits would not allow him to settle. His need for intense excitement and extreme danger drove him back to the lifestyle he knew and loved, and using his Legion training, he became a 'hidden soldier' by opting for security missions in Iraq and Haiti. In Iraq he was the sole survivor of an ambush in no man's land between Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, the most dangerous place on earth. An intense, exciting and vivid account of extraordinary and sometimes horrific events, Hidden Soldier lifts the veil on the dark and shadowy world of security contractors and what the situation is really like in Iraq as well as other trouble spots. This bestseller also includes photographs taken by Padraig O'Keeffe while he was a Legionnaire and when he was in Iraq.
Publisher: The O'Brien Press
ISBN: 1847176224
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
Pádraig O'Keeffe joined the elite and secretive French Foreign Legion at the age of twenty, seeking a challenge that would absorb his interests and intensity. He served with the Legion in Cambodia and Bosnia, then returned to civilian life, but military habits would not allow him to settle. His need for intense excitement and extreme danger drove him back to the lifestyle he knew and loved, and using his Legion training, he became a 'hidden soldier' by opting for security missions in Iraq and Haiti. In Iraq he was the sole survivor of an ambush in no man's land between Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, the most dangerous place on earth. An intense, exciting and vivid account of extraordinary and sometimes horrific events, Hidden Soldier lifts the veil on the dark and shadowy world of security contractors and what the situation is really like in Iraq as well as other trouble spots. This bestseller also includes photographs taken by Padraig O'Keeffe while he was a Legionnaire and when he was in Iraq.
The French Foreign Legion and Indochina in Retrospect
Author: Michael Kaponya
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781627462099
Category : Indochinese War, 1946-1954
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Prior to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the French Foreign Legion defended the Indochinese Union from 1883 through 1945 from frequent armed attacks launched from outside its borders as well as bloody inside uprisings. At that time, the Union consisted of Tonkin, Annam, Laos, Cambodia, and Cochin-China. Michael Kaponya shares his memoirs as a French Foreign Legionnaire who served in the infantry and participated in battles and countless skirmishes between 1949 and 1952 in Indochina. The French Foreign Legion and Indochina in Retrospect also outlines the politics that led America into the twentieth century wars in South-East Asia and provides readers with a greater understanding of the aftermath of the French presence and ensuing U.S. involvement. The French Foreign Legion and Indochina in Retrospect addresses an overview of the French Foreign Legion, since its foundation in 1831, that fought with Honneur et Fidelite countless battles, up to 1962, in Algeria, Spain, Morocco, Russia, Italy, Mexico, France, China, Dahomey (Benin), Soudan, Madagascar, Serbia, Syria, Tunisia, Norway, Egypt, Libya, Germany, and Indochina. It also unveils the spirit of the legionnaires, originating from many countries and inseparably unites under the French flag with the Latin motto Legio Patria Nostra (the Legion is our fatherland). This fascinating memoir details Michael's experiences during and post-World War II in Europe, which led him to join the French Foreign Legion. Gain a greater understanding of the Legion and its roles in crucial conflicts from this first-hand account.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781627462099
Category : Indochinese War, 1946-1954
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Prior to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the French Foreign Legion defended the Indochinese Union from 1883 through 1945 from frequent armed attacks launched from outside its borders as well as bloody inside uprisings. At that time, the Union consisted of Tonkin, Annam, Laos, Cambodia, and Cochin-China. Michael Kaponya shares his memoirs as a French Foreign Legionnaire who served in the infantry and participated in battles and countless skirmishes between 1949 and 1952 in Indochina. The French Foreign Legion and Indochina in Retrospect also outlines the politics that led America into the twentieth century wars in South-East Asia and provides readers with a greater understanding of the aftermath of the French presence and ensuing U.S. involvement. The French Foreign Legion and Indochina in Retrospect addresses an overview of the French Foreign Legion, since its foundation in 1831, that fought with Honneur et Fidelite countless battles, up to 1962, in Algeria, Spain, Morocco, Russia, Italy, Mexico, France, China, Dahomey (Benin), Soudan, Madagascar, Serbia, Syria, Tunisia, Norway, Egypt, Libya, Germany, and Indochina. It also unveils the spirit of the legionnaires, originating from many countries and inseparably unites under the French flag with the Latin motto Legio Patria Nostra (the Legion is our fatherland). This fascinating memoir details Michael's experiences during and post-World War II in Europe, which led him to join the French Foreign Legion. Gain a greater understanding of the Legion and its roles in crucial conflicts from this first-hand account.
Legionnaire: Five Years in the French Foreign Legion, the World's Toughest Army
Author: Simon Murray
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1760987077
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 381
Book Description
One of the greatest adventure stories in years.' – Chris Patten 'The drama, excitement and colour of a good guts-and-glory thriller.' – Dr. Henry Kissinger 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 on to 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. Subjected to brutal sergeants, merciless training methods and barbaric punishments – all in the hostile, sun-baked North African desert – Murray and his fellow men were pushed to breaking point, and beyond. Sixty years on, it remains a remarkable account of one of the most notorious military groups, a tale of true adventure and one man's determination never to surrender.
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1760987077
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 381
Book Description
One of the greatest adventure stories in years.' – Chris Patten 'The drama, excitement and colour of a good guts-and-glory thriller.' – Dr. Henry Kissinger 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 on to 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. Subjected to brutal sergeants, merciless training methods and barbaric punishments – all in the hostile, sun-baked North African desert – Murray and his fellow men were pushed to breaking point, and beyond. Sixty years on, it remains a remarkable account of one of the most notorious military groups, a tale of true adventure and one man's determination never to surrender.
French Foreign Legion
Author: Martin Windrow
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472805291
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 146
Book Description
Men of action and elite soldiers with a young and dynamic spirit, the French Foreign Legion are capable of doing their duty anywhere anytime. Martin Windrow's superb text examines the history of this famous force from the end of the Second World War onward. This first class addition to the Men-at-Arms series not only contains the usual wealth of accompanying photographs and illustrations, including eight full page colour plates by Mike Chappell, but is extended by a further 16 pages, allowing the author to display the full range of his expert knowledge, including 11 pages devoted to uniforms.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472805291
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 146
Book Description
Men of action and elite soldiers with a young and dynamic spirit, the French Foreign Legion are capable of doing their duty anywhere anytime. Martin Windrow's superb text examines the history of this famous force from the end of the Second World War onward. This first class addition to the Men-at-Arms series not only contains the usual wealth of accompanying photographs and illustrations, including eight full page colour plates by Mike Chappell, but is extended by a further 16 pages, allowing the author to display the full range of his expert knowledge, including 11 pages devoted to uniforms.
Legion of the Lost
Author: Jaime Salazar
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101118466
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
The son of underpaid Mexican immigrants, Jaime earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue. But at twenty-three, he was disillusioned with the corporate fast track. So he became an outcast American in a hard-bitten group of recruits-men on the run from their pasts, men without hope: He joined the French Foreign Legion. From the Legion's notoriously brutal training to Salazar's fierce competitiveness, ultimate disillusionment and dramatic desertion, Legion of the Lost is a compelling, firsthand account of today's French Foreign Legion that will dispel myths while adding to the legend of the finest trained army of warriors the world has ever known.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101118466
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 251
Book Description
The son of underpaid Mexican immigrants, Jaime earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue. But at twenty-three, he was disillusioned with the corporate fast track. So he became an outcast American in a hard-bitten group of recruits-men on the run from their pasts, men without hope: He joined the French Foreign Legion. From the Legion's notoriously brutal training to Salazar's fierce competitiveness, ultimate disillusionment and dramatic desertion, Legion of the Lost is a compelling, firsthand account of today's French Foreign Legion that will dispel myths while adding to the legend of the finest trained army of warriors the world has ever known.
The French Foreign Legion
Author: Douglas Boyd
Publisher: Ian Allen Pub
ISBN: 9780711035003
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Ian Allen Pub
ISBN: 9780711035003
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464
Book Description
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.
Devil's Guard
Author: George R. Elford
Publisher: Delta
ISBN: 0307483770
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 347
Book Description
Condemned to death for the bloodbaths of World War II, they served their sentence—on the killing fields of Vietnam. The fascinating, true story of the French Foreign Legion’s Nazi battalion WHAT THEY DID IN WORLD WAS II WAS HITORY’S BLOODIEST NIGHTMARE. The ashes of World War II were still cooling when France went to war in the jungles of Southeast Asia. In that struggle, its frontline troops were the misfits, criminals, and mercenaries of the French Foreign Legion. And among that international army of the desperate and the damned, none were so bloodstained as the fugitive veterans of the German S.S. WHAT THEY DID IN VIETNAM WAS ITS UGLIEST SECRET—UNTIL NOW. Loathed by the French, feared and hated by the Vietnamese, the Germans fought not for patriotism of glory but because fighting for France was better than hanging from its gallows. Here now is the untold story of the killer elite whose discipline, ferocity, and suicidal courage made them the weapon of last resort.
Publisher: Delta
ISBN: 0307483770
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 347
Book Description
Condemned to death for the bloodbaths of World War II, they served their sentence—on the killing fields of Vietnam. The fascinating, true story of the French Foreign Legion’s Nazi battalion WHAT THEY DID IN WORLD WAS II WAS HITORY’S BLOODIEST NIGHTMARE. The ashes of World War II were still cooling when France went to war in the jungles of Southeast Asia. In that struggle, its frontline troops were the misfits, criminals, and mercenaries of the French Foreign Legion. And among that international army of the desperate and the damned, none were so bloodstained as the fugitive veterans of the German S.S. WHAT THEY DID IN VIETNAM WAS ITS UGLIEST SECRET—UNTIL NOW. Loathed by the French, feared and hated by the Vietnamese, the Germans fought not for patriotism of glory but because fighting for France was better than hanging from its gallows. Here now is the untold story of the killer elite whose discipline, ferocity, and suicidal courage made them the weapon of last resort.
French Foreign Legion
Author: Martin Windrow
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1846037239
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 66
Book Description
Men of action and elite soldiers with a young and dynamic spirit, the French Foreign Legion are capable of doing their duty anywhere anytime. Martin Windrow's superb text examines the history of this famous force from the end of the Second World War onward. This first class addition to the Men-at-Arms series not only contains the usual wealth of accompanying photographs and illustrations, including eight full page colour plates by Mike Chappell, but is extended by a further 16 pages, allowing the author to display the full range of his expert knowledge, including 11 pages devoted to uniforms.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1846037239
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 66
Book Description
Men of action and elite soldiers with a young and dynamic spirit, the French Foreign Legion are capable of doing their duty anywhere anytime. Martin Windrow's superb text examines the history of this famous force from the end of the Second World War onward. This first class addition to the Men-at-Arms series not only contains the usual wealth of accompanying photographs and illustrations, including eight full page colour plates by Mike Chappell, but is extended by a further 16 pages, allowing the author to display the full range of his expert knowledge, including 11 pages devoted to uniforms.
The American Foreign Legion
Author: Frank Roberts
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612515061
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
Still segregated in World War I, the U.S. Army was reluctant to use its 93d division of black soldiers in combat and instead assigned the division's three National Guard and one draftee regiments to the French Army. The battlefield successes of these African Americans under the French at the height of the German offensives in 1918 turned white expectations of failure upside down. Their bravery and heroism gained the respect of French and German alike and called into question the U.S. Army's policy of racially segregating its divisions. The full story of their accomplishments is told here for the first time through the eyes of the enlisted men and their white and black officers.
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612515061
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
Still segregated in World War I, the U.S. Army was reluctant to use its 93d division of black soldiers in combat and instead assigned the division's three National Guard and one draftee regiments to the French Army. The battlefield successes of these African Americans under the French at the height of the German offensives in 1918 turned white expectations of failure upside down. Their bravery and heroism gained the respect of French and German alike and called into question the U.S. Army's policy of racially segregating its divisions. The full story of their accomplishments is told here for the first time through the eyes of the enlisted men and their white and black officers.