Legionnaire: Five Years in the French Foreign Legion, the World's Toughest Army

Simon Murray was 19 when he joined the French Foreign Legion. The romantic myths had not prepared him for 5 years of hard living and discipline. This is his extraordinary insight into the soldiering trade that has passed into military history. 'One of the greatest adventure stories in years.' - Chris Patten 'The drama, excitement and colour of a good guts-and-glory thriller.' - Dr. Henry Kissinger The French Foreign Legion - mysterious, romantic, deadly - is filled with men of dubious character, and hardly the place for a proper Englishman just nineteen years of age. Yet in 1960, Simon Murray traveled alone to Paris, Marseilles, and on to Algeria to fulfill the toughest contract of his life: a five-year stint in the Legion. Along the way, he kept a diary.Legionnaire is a compelling, firsthand account of Murray's experience with this legendary band of soldiers. Subjected to brutal sergeants, merciless training methods and barbaric punishments - all in the hostile, sun-baked North African desert - Murray and his fellow men were pushed to breaking point, and beyond.Sixty years on, it remains a remarkable account of one of the most notorious military groups, a tale of true adventure and one man's determination never to surrender.