The History of the French Foreign Legion: From 1831 to Present Day

The French Foreign Legion is so famous that its name reaches far beyond military students alone and the general public has a good sense for its notoriety - yet few know the depth and details of its history. That's why THE HISTORY OF THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION FROM 1831 TO THE PRESENT DAY is so important: it provides a detailed survey of the Legion, which began in France in 1831 and fought battles through some of the harshest environments in the world. While today's Legion only holds about eight thousand men, it's aggressive recruiting and arduous training program keeps it one of the world's elite fighting forces.

The French Foreign Legion is one of the strangest military units ever created. One of its original rules was that it could never serve in France itself. This remained in effect until World War I when France needed all the troops it could get into the trenches. Originally it asked few questions about the background of people joining, and it is rumored that an awful lot of german was spoken by off duty legionnaires just after World War II. This book covers the legion from its inception in 1831 through it's activities today. It covers their victories as well as their two big defeats at Camerone, Mexico and of course Dien Bien Phu. About half the book is on the history of the legion, the other half is on the modern legion. The modern legion has changed somewhat from its history to become an elite unit of the French army. It has been used in various peacekeeping operations, counter terrorists activities, and in joint operations with other countries such as during Desert Storm. There is also a good bit of description of the equipment used by the legion, from it's standard rifle to the LeClerc main battle tank. I did see a couple of mistakes, mostly in the labeling of pictures, but these were not serious enough to