The White Kepi: A Casual History of the French Foreign Legion

Heroic figures galloping across the loose sands of the Sahara, their flowing white kepis a symbol of the highest romance and adventure...or murderers and human derelicts, rejected by society and hunted by the police, seeking escape from prison in the ranks of the Légion Étrangère? Neither picture—so commonly held by the general public—is even partially accurate, writes Walter Kanitz.
During World War II, Walter Kanitz fought with the Foreign Legion in Africa. He has done a vast amount of r...