The French Foreign Legion

New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1995. First printing of this edition [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. 179, [3] pages. Previous owner's label on fep. John Laffin (21 September 1922 - 23 September 2000) was an Australian 20th century military historian. In the late 1930s Laffin was employed as a trainee journalist on the staff of Smith's Weekly, one of Australia's most patriotic newspaper-style magazines, and the Wagga Wagga Advertiser. In 1941 he enlisted as a Private into the 2nd Australian Imperial Force, subsequently being commissioned as an officer and going on to see active service. In the early 1960s, he began writing military histories, which after a few years sold well enough to allow him to earn a living as a professional military historian and writer, as well as intermittent pieces of journalism in the field. Laffin was a prodigious author, producing works - many of which possessed a personal viewpoint of their subject matter - regularly for publication on a range of modern military history subjects, ranging from conflicts in the Middle East, the Falklands War, and World War II, but the central subject that he returned to repeatedly throughout his career over the next 40 years was the British experience of World War I. He traveled in Europe, especially along the old battlefields of World War I's Western Front. Laffin was the instigator behind the creation of the Australian Corps Memorial Park, dedicated to the Australian troops who served on the Western Front in World War I. He also founded the Families & Friends of the 1st Australian Imperial Force, a society dedicated to maintaining the historical and cultural memory of the men of Australia's primary expeditionary force that fought in World War I. From its founding in 1831 to the present day, the French Foreign Legion has been surrounded by an aura of mystery and romantic adventure. Drawing on recently released material and first hand research, renowned military historian John Laffin sorts myth from reality to reveal the Legion in its true colors. Here's the real story of this remarkable fighting force: its exceptional officers, its rank and file (which at one time comprised as many as 45 nationalities), its campaigns and battles (in Mexico, Syria, the Sahara, the Atlas Mountains and during the two world wars) and much more. With special chapters covering the Legion's philosophy, structure, discipline, off-duty exploits and lore, this intensely readable history is bound to have a wide appeal apart from its value to the student of military history. As Laffin himself so aptly puts it: "If ever there was romance in war, then the Foreign Legion has epitomized it." The French Foreign Legion is an elite corps of the French Army that consists of several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army. It formed part of the Armée d'Afrique, the French Army's units associated with France's colonial project in Northern Africa, until the end of the Algerian War in 1962. Legionnaires are highly trained soldiers and the Legion is unique in that it is open to foreign recruits willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. The Legion is known today as a unit whose training focuses on traditional military skills and on its strong esprit de corps, as its men come from different countries with different cultures. Consequently, training is often described as not only physically challenging, but also very stressful psychologically. Legionnaires may apply for French citizenship after three years' service, or immediately after being wounded during a battle for France under a provision known as "Français par le sang versé" ("French by spilled blood").