Legionnaire
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Product Description
Product Description
The classic bestselling account of life in the French Foreign Legion.
Book Description
Simon Murray was nineteen when he joined the French Foreign Legion. Inspired by the romantic myths of Beau Geste, he found himself in the ranks of one of the world's greatest - and toughest - fighting forces. He kept a unique diary of the hard living, harsh discipline, and the military tradition of 'March or Die' which he turned into this gripping book. 'Simon Murray's personal account of a gently reared, well-educated British youth's coming of age in the French Foreign Legion has the drama, excitement and colour of a good guts-and-glory thriller . . . Murray is a talented storyteller, and his fellow legionnaires and their disciplined and proud Corps are vividly portrayed. I was hooked from the first page.' Dr Henry Kissinger 'One of the greatest adventure stories in recent years.' Chris Patten
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
When Simon Murray joined the Legion in early 1960, he was an English only-just-ex-public schoolboy (Bedford College) who had previously spent about eight months "before the mast" after leaving behind a --partly-- unrequited love affair. So far, so classic and in fact he even contrived a happy ending: after five years in the Legion, the lady married him and he became extremely wealthy in South-East Asia.
As for his time in the Legion, what stays with the reader is the sheer brutality of both the training staff (and other) NCO's, as well as that of many of the recruits, who ranged from the few --like Murray-- who might have been officers in their own armies, to the utterly barbaric or simply primitive. Murray had the advantage of fitness, youth and a command of French.
The Legion in Murray's day was in transition, from the old "joining to forget" army of yesteryear, to the highly trained rapid response commando Legion which began to emerge in the 1960's. There was also the difficulty of Algeria: Murray played a role, at ground level, in fighting the F.L.N.; after de Gaulle gave in to the F.L.N., many of the French and German Legionnaires joined the O.A.S. and tried to topple de Gaulle. Murray stayed aloof. He became corporal, then sergeant, was offered officer status but refused it (all officers must have or take French nationality).
The diaries are written well, grippingly so. At times, Murray's life is in peril in a very concrete sense. Yet amid the brutality and danger, the author never loses humanity, as when he is disgusted as several legionnaires machinegun a donkey. You can remove a young man from the Lansdowne Club, but...Murray never becomes just one of the pack.
This book is now a classic of military, adventure and autobiographical literature. Read it.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
They don't make Englishmen like Simon Murray any more. Still a fresh-faced teen, he struggles with conflicting loyalties to family, country and the love of his life, and decides to join the French Foreign Legion. It is scarcely conceivable that a modern teenager would have the strength of character to do the same, but the 19-year old Murray soon finds himself in Algeria, facing a regime of brutality unimaginable by modern standards, as an underfunded, politically riven French army attempts to hold together its crumbling African empire. Then as now, the task proves difficult to say the least, as Murray and his multinational comrades sweat, dig and march over fly-blown hillsides, taking appalling disease, injury and terrible food in their stride.
Murray's story, expanded from diary entries, gives a fascinating account of a bygone age when young men were willing to accept terrible hardships for the sake of adventure, but he doesn't shy away from criticisms of French military policy or the many near-psychotic thugs that he found himself serving alongside. What is clear at the end is that the experience stood him in good stead - we would all benefit from such clarity of purpose and vision. The little details stand out - Murray's attachment to England, and the home comforts that he received in the post; the random acts of savage brutality perpetrated by his comrades; and the esprit-de-corps of the Legion, despite the grumblings and myriad nationalities of those who served in it. Far better written that any contemporary account by SAS veterans padding out their five minutes on the balcony, this deserves to remain in print for a very long time.
Murray's story, expanded from diary entries, gives a fascinating account of a bygone age when young men were willing to accept terrible hardships for the sake of adventure, but he doesn't shy away from criticisms of French military policy or the many near-psychotic thugs that he found himself serving alongside. What is clear at the end is that the experience stood him in good stead - we would all benefit from such clarity of purpose and vision. The little details stand out - Murray's attachment to England, and the home comforts that he received in the post; the random acts of savage brutality perpetrated by his comrades; and the esprit-de-corps of the Legion, despite the grumblings and myriad nationalities of those who served in it. Far better written that any contemporary account by SAS veterans padding out their five minutes on the balcony, this deserves to remain in print for a very long time.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
We got some good sadistic stuff about selection, initiation and training around the start of Murray's Legion career. Let's face it - that's what we want from a book about the Foreign Legion isn't it?
Halfway through the story petered out a bit in the desert and the hills. There wasn't enough variety to sustain interest. Towards the end the thing became rather self-congratulatory to be honest. All that stuff about the shooting team. And the light romantic frolicking in the surf with various ladies.
What was good was the information on the political position at the time vis-a-vis France and Algeria. Also good was info about the Legion itself although we could have done with a lot more. It was a diary though and not a history book.
Halfway through the story petered out a bit in the desert and the hills. There wasn't enough variety to sustain interest. Towards the end the thing became rather self-congratulatory to be honest. All that stuff about the shooting team. And the light romantic frolicking in the surf with various ladies.
What was good was the information on the political position at the time vis-a-vis France and Algeria. Also good was info about the Legion itself although we could have done with a lot more. It was a diary though and not a history book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Proper blokes read !
Beau Geste it isn't, but a fantastic insight into the cold, hard, rough environment of a permanently grueling and challenging career. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Mark
Legionnaire by Simon Murray.
The real life story of a young man who joins the French Foreign Legion.
A fantastic book of high adventure and unbelievable hardship - by today's standards. Read more
A fantastic book of high adventure and unbelievable hardship - by today's standards. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kevin
What a read !
This is a fantastic book. I personally hate 'diary style' but this did not detract in the slightest from this story. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kesh
Legionnaire:The Real Life of an Englishman
A brilliantly written story that confirms all the hardships that one has read in fiction. I can't imagine that it would be used in a enrolment programme. Read more
Published 2 months ago by peanuts
Great Read
Took to this book from the first page, fascinating real life story. The hardship he went through and never giving up shows he is an impressive person. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Dave
Mind Blowing
I have never came across a book like it. Once i picked it up i couldnt put it down and once i finished it i wanted to get on a plane to paris and have my own adventure. Read more
Published 11 months ago by flagger
Hard
Great book, really enjoyed it. The drama in the story was nicely downplayed and therefore will attract sensible readers of military history.
Published 13 months ago by Mr. N. J. Richardson
Legionnaire
This book gives you a really interesting and real insight into the French Foreign Legion.
Simon Murray is the real deal! Highly recommend it, you cannot put it aside!
Simon Murray is the real deal! Highly recommend it, you cannot put it aside!
Published 19 months ago by BettyBoop
Couldn't put it down
An incredibly well written account of an era now gone. The move from Algeria's status as a French colony to Independence in the early to mid 1960s. Read more
Published on 12 April 2010 by R. Atkins
ex lightinfantry
I read this marvel twice while i was serving in germany with the british army its a great read.
Published on 13 Mar 2010 by redneck cowboy
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