The French Foreign Legion

by Martin Windrow, Michael Roffe (Illustrator)

Overview

It is arguable that no group of fighting men in the history of European arms has been so misrepresented by ill-informed publicity as the French Foreign Legion. Though initially conceived in 1831 as a means of drafting recently discharged foreign soldiers to Algeria, the Legion has developed into a sophisticated force of motorized infantry, airborne troops and light armour. In this book, acclaimed French Army expert Martin Windrow examines the history and uniforms of the French Foreign Legion, from its service in the Carlist War of 1835-36 to World War II and beyond, debunking many of the prevalent myths surrounding this formidable force.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472806369
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/20/2013
Series:	Men-at-Arms , #17
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	50
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Martin Windrow is series editor at Osprey and an authority on the post-war French army, particularly the Foreign Legion. He is the author of the very successful Men-at-Arms 300: French Foreign Legion since 1945, Men-at-Arms 322: The French War in Indochina 1946-54 and the critically acclaimed The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam (2004).

Michael Roffe is a talented painter of military subjects who has illustrated many books for Osprey over the years. His artistic talents span a variety of historical periods; he has illustrated titles relating to the Boer War, the English Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars and the American War for Independence.
Martin Windrow is series editor at Osprey and an authority on the post-war French Army, particularly the Foreign Legion. He is the author of the critically acclaimed The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam (2004).

Table of Contents

Introduction · The Old Legion · Spain and the Carlist War, 1835-8 · Algeria, 1837-54 · The Crimea, 1854-6 · The Reduction of Kabylia · Italy, 1859 · Mexico, 1863-7 · France and Algeria, 1867-82 · Indo-China, 1883-95 · Dahomey and the Sudan, 1892 · Madagascar, 1895 · North Africa, 1890-1914 · The First World War · Africa, 1918-39 · Syria · The Second World War · Indo-China, 1941-54 · Algeria · The Legion Today · Colour plate commentary