The French Foreign Legion: Complete History of The Legendary Fighting Force [Paperback]

Douglas Porch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 1992

Resoundingly acclaimed, this brilliantly detailed historical account vividly presents the famed fighting force.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In spite of its high desertion rate, its fatal preference for frontal assault and resistance to modernization, the polyglot, multinational force known as the French Foreign Legion has maintained a reputation for do-or-die combat ferocity since its founding a century and a half ago. Porch ( The Conquest of the Sahara ) describes the Legion's unique recruitment practices, merciless training methods and traditions from which it derives its special character, and also relates how it carved its colorful history in the sands of the Sahara and the jungles of Africa and Indochina. The study includes vivid descriptions of such classic legionnaire battles as the 1848 seige at Zaatcha in Morocco and the valiant last stand at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. This entertaining history captures the romance, mystery and drama of the Legion as well as the iron at its core. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Porch, a distinguished scholar of France's military experience, has integrated exhaustive archival research with comprehensive, critical use of an extensive memoir literature to produce the definitive history of this unique military formation. Porch analyzes the relationship of the Foreign Legion to the French army and French society. He discusses the legion's role as an instrument of redemption, and its status as an elite fighting force. He evaluates the legion's internal dynamics, throwing new light on such cliche-encrusted issues as the role of desertion in the legion's subculture and the nature of legion discipline. The book also serves as an excellent history of France's colonial wars, with the legion at center stage. Porch's accounts of the conquest of Algeria, the Dahomey and Madagascar campaigns, and the French occupation of Tonkin in the 1880s surpass anything in English. His analysis of the French defeat in Indochina is a model of its kind. Porch's sense of the mot juste and the telling phrase make this book a pleasure to read, as well as an exercise in sound history. Recommended for most collections.
- D.E. Showalter, Colorado Coll., Colorado Springs
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (June 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060923083
• ISBN-13: 978-0060923082
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #636,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best book to date about the Foreign Legion, October 3, 1998

By 

William J. Shepherd (Crofton, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The French Foreign Legion: Complete History of The Legendary Fighting Force (Paperback)

Douglas Porch is perhaps one of the most widely acknowledged experts on the history of the French army. THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION: A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE LEGENDARY FIGHTING FORCE is but one of his many thoroughly reseached and well-argued historical studies. The subtitle is incorrect though as there is no such thing as a 'complete' history. For one thing, Porch ignores the post 1962 Legion and its numerous excursions in such exotic locales as Chad, the former Zaire, Djibouti, Lebanon, and the Persian Gulf. Beyond this questionable title selection and the aformentioned omissions, there is little cause for complaint as this book is probably the most balanced and comprehensive study of the Foreign Legion yet undertaken. There have been many personal memoirs and battle histories published but this is the first significant attempt at an institutional history. Porch is less concerned with battles (though they are an integral factor) than he is with the Legion's function as a social institution. He focuses on such elements as organization, recruitment, desertion, discipline, morale, alcohol consumption, and combat performance. The Legion was initiated in 1830 to rid France of unwanted foreign emigres and to provide forces for unpopular service in the colonial empire, primarily Algeria. The Legion also provided an outlet for some of the dregs of both French society and the army. The nature and origins of recruits changed over time and reflected the outcome of varous European conflicts in that members of the losing side, be it Spanish republicans in the 1930s or German Nazis in the 1940s, for example, invariably swelled the Legion's rolls. Desertion was an endemic problem but was generally viewed as removing malcontents and improving the overall quality of a unit. It also could be an opportunity for a legionnaire to make a personal statement of creativity and a successful exit was not necessarily the true object. This demonstates some of the unreality of Legion life and its many differences with regular army formations, whether French or not. A variety of factors and concepts combined to create some cohesion, particularly in combat, out of a hodge podge of humanity. Porch has concluded that psychological reasons such as anonymity, a fresh start in life, sense of purpose, and potential for advancement were attractive inducements for enlistment and service. The dismal pay scale certainly belies the traditional jibe that legionnaires were simply mercenaries. Porch also explores the role of discipline and finds that it was generally more verbal than physical. When it did manifest itself physically it could be cruel and unorthadox but frequently appeared worse than was actually the case. These measures were more lenient than death by firing squad which was used for a variety of offenses in regular army formations. Porch also describes the chronic lack of non-commissioned officers which is in contrast to many more traditional armies. He states that there was a strong democratic element in the ranks and a tyrannical sergeant, such as the antagonist in the famous novel BEAU GESTE, would have been quickly eliminated by the men. Porch states that of the many myths about the Legion, some were created internally but many more arose from literary and film endeavors which romanticized the Legion in the popular culture of western nations. The Legion has usually lived up to its awesome battle reputation but boring garrison duty has brought out the worst, particularly Alcoholism as well as other deleterious activites. He also argues that combat performance has tended to be better in small colonial conflicts rather than in major conflagrations such as the two world wars of the twentieth century. He also notes that the Legion has not excelled in engineering feats or in the pacification of local populations during guerrilla wars. Porch's assessment is that the Legion has been an asset to France despite periods of neglect and political disaffection. Porch's study is well-documented, insightful, and highly analytical. His writing style is both thought provoking and somewhat unpredictable as he continually engages the reader's attention. His notes are meticulous and his bibliography is extensive. His maps are generally good although his editors could have done a better job of placement relative to the pertinent sections of the text. This is the best book about the Foreign Legion to date and is highly recommended.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Near Complete History of the Legion, December 4, 2002

By 

Roger Kennedy (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The French Foreign Legion: Complete History of The Legendary Fighting Force (Paperback)

This book contains a lot of impressive research on the history and combat performance of the Legion. Unlike other books on this subject Mr. Porch has decided to take an objective, analylitical approach toward his study of the Legion. This may put off some readers because Porch's work is long, and does not contain a lot of exciting passages. This is a serious study of the Legion's origins, history, and combat performance. Those who stick with this long read will find it rewarding, but also time consuming!

There is lots of fascinating information here buried between the sometimes excessive analysis. A lot of focus is placed on Legion morale, combat effectiveness, and desertion. Porch spends large portions of time disecting these topics at length throughout the book to try to determine the real efficiency of the Legion and to seperate the myth from the reality. His conclusions are that the Legion performed best when used in colonial operations. It was not suited for European conflicts and World Wars, even though it did perform well in them. The often delicate pyschological make-up of the average Legionaire meant that he was not suited to perform certain tasks. The Legion prides itself on being a corps d'elite of the French army, even though the Legion itself often disdains that asscoiation. The love-hate relationship between France and her Legion is well illustrated in this book. Indeed, this was the very reason why it was formed in 1831 to safely deposit troublesom foreign elements of society. The Legion seeing this, has responded by imposing an insular discipline over the years which either consumes the recruit, or destroys him in the process!

For the length of this book, Porch could spend somewhat more time describing the Legion's battles and campaigns. The famed battle at Camerone in Mexico, now so much apart of Legion lore, gets scarsely a few pages, while the Dohomey and Madacascar campaigns receive lengthy treatments. The coverage of topics is sometimes uneven. One of the best early chapters is on the Carlist Wars of Spain in 1838 and how the Legion was loaned out to serve Queen Isabel in what was to become a long and thankless campaign. Then strangely, both the Crimean War and the Italian War of 1859 get just a small chapter together. The constant references to Legion performance and desertion are a bit redundant after a while. Still, there is much that is worthwhile here. The inter-war years chapter when General Rollet attempts to create the traditions of the Legion during the difficult Rif War of the 1920s provides a lot of interesting debate on the popular image we have seen of the Legion in movies and books.

Like most Legion histories this one ends after the loss of Algeria in 1961 and provides only a brief look at the attempted challenege to de Gaulle's policy there. There is no chapter on the Legion today which would really round off this book and help make it the deffinitive history which it purports itself to be.

Overall I found this book to be well researched, somewhat dry at times, filled with interesting information and analysis. No Legion buff should be without it as it discusses many aspects of the corp's history not often covered. The book probably could have been made shorter and covered effectively just as much material. There is a good collection of pictures which does enhance the work, and the few maps provided are helpful, if sparringly used. You won't find a lot of Legion lore and heros here, in fact many famous names mentioned elsewhere are deliberately ignored here because the author wishes to have a more detached approach toward this subject. Still, this book will reward the Legion grognard who fights his way through it!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Work on the Legion, but With Some Flaws., December 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The French Foreign Legion: Complete History of The Legendary Fighting Force (Paperback)

At 634 pages plus references, this book is a lot of "Legion", and the reader will not be able to finish it on the plane. Professor Porch is to be commended on the thoroughness with which he treats his subject, but the lay reader may find some of the development excessively long, perhaps to the point of preventing a clear understanding of the main subject. For this hypothetical reader, the tale could have had twice the impact with half the words. An additional flaw is that, rather surprisingly after all the detail on historical matters, the treatment of the Legion in modern times is skimpy, and the book would have benefitted from a really strong closing chapter on the Legion today.

But precisely because it is highly detailed, the book can be mined for fascinating insights. The reader can learn about Cole Porter's Legion career and what Legionnaires really think of Beau Geste soldiers. Does the Legion really fight to the last man? Find out about mercenaries, idealism, cruelty, boozing, fighting in the ranks, mutinies, and many other aspects of Legion life. The book will almost surely be an eye-opener for some with preconceived notions (and we all have them where the Legion is concerned), but the author always gives documentation for his claims.

This is a useful reference on the French Foreign Legion and a rewarding read for anyone interested in the subject.