A thoroughly researched book, along the lines of 'Forgotten Voices of the Great War'. Will be enjoyed by those with a keen interest in military history, particularly the Foreign Legion and colonial history that is not from a British perspective. But perhaps a bit too in-depth for general interest...

The French Foreign Legion is unique omong the world's militaries. It's use of only non-French in it's ranks makes for difficult situations during many conflicts. Loyalty to the Legion usually overcomes conflicts but during World War II the Legion was divided between Vichy and Free French. This book delves into those conflicts and many more using first hand accounts over the legnthy history of the Legion. Gilbert uses solid narrative to tie the diary entries together. This book is highly valuable to all students of today's military.

Military history is not really my thing, but this book grabbed me at the first chapter and I read the whole thing in the course of a day. It is mostly legionnaires talking about their experiences first hand. I was surprised by how much of it seemed familiar, but then there have been a lot of people who joined the legion for the experience and so they could write about it. And a lot of the letters and journals kept by legionnaires have been published. The book has copious endnotes and a long bibliography. But, infuriatingly, no index. And I suppose over the years some of this came my way: probably as extracts and articles. The Legion has always been controversial and often newsworthy. Its role, first as securing the French Empire, then as trying to keep it going and finally as a sort of all purpose rapid response team means that anyone who has kept their eye on international events will be familiar with many of events described, if not in quite the same intimacy as these guys. And, even more surprisingly one woman.

And because the legion has featured in many books, movies and tv shows there is a degree of familiarity with many of its traditions and most of its peccadilloes. There are also a number of unique circumstances: the legion has had many Germans in its ranks - and in both world wars there were German legionnaires fighting for France against German troops. In its modern role, the huge diversity of its membership means it has been much more effective in dealing with conflicts such as the UN missions in the former Yugoslavia than say the Canadian peacekeepers who were at best bilingual compared to the multilingual FFL.

There is no doubt at all that the sort of people who want to join are not always the best sort of people. These days apparently they can afford to turn away the majority of applicants. At other times, they have been glad to welcome many people who perhaps they would not have chose as recruits. The FFL has always been a law unto itself. It is not supposed to be for French nationals, but there are ways around that - and always have been. The legion is noted for its brutality not just to its trainees but to almost anyone who gets in their way. The Legion looks after its own which means it defends - among others - sadists and psychopaths. And the people who survive their minimum five year contract or the longer 15 years which gets them French citizenship (if they want it) all seem to keen to defend it.

I have never had any military experience and equally have had no wish to. And what I have learned about the FFL over the years means that I cannot say I admire them. But on the other hand if I were captured by some the nastier outfits that include hostage taking in their resumes, I would be very glad if the FFN did intervene. Soldiering is not my forte - but I have to recognize that there are times when professional soldiers - who often get labelled "mercenaries" are indeed necessary. So it is instructive to understand exactly why basic training - and in the case of the FFN much of the rest of their training too - looks a lot like torture. And why it works. There is a section on desertion - but is far more generalized than most of the book. There are plenty of interviews with those who stuck it out: not much from those who walked away, other than, a bit surprisingly, the acknowledgement that desertion can spring from the same need for excitement and adventure that prompted enlistment. And also the problem of "cafard" which seems closely linked to feelings of captivity or maybe boredom.

I think if I had been asked to edit the book I would have suggested more critical coverage - but then to some extent the people quoted often condemn themselves. There are also several times when there is no direct quote from the soldier but rather a slab from the official history - which is, at the very least, somewhat suspect in its objectivity.

I hope I have conveyed that I felt my time was usefully spent reading this book, and those of you who like this sort of thing will find it good of its kind. Not only did it ensnare me, but I found it raised a number of questions in my mind that I once remembered having. So my memory cells have been tickled and thats not bad thing either.

I was enthralled by this book. One of the most interesting I have ever read. I've heard about the French Foreign Legion for years, have seen them in movies, but none of them compare to the true stories. From the first chapter explaining what it takes to get in and all the adventures until the very last. Yes, there are some really sad stories as they fought wars and people died. I recommend this book to anyone interested in what The French Foreign Legion does. It's truly an amazing book. I received this book from Net Galley and Thistle Publishing for an honest review and no compensation otherwise.

Voices of the Foreign Legion by Adrian D. Gilbert

Thank you Net Gallery and David Haviland for an ARC of this ebook.

This is most definitely the World's Most Famous Fighting Corps. In this book we follow men that sign up for the French Legion, from boot camp which is so grueling, to the end of the war. I couldn't believe what these men went through just with the boot camp. They were fighting each other even before they went to war. You have to say that these are some very strong men. These soldiers went and fought and most died trying to fight to save the Country. I also can't believe what these men were thinking when they signed up for this duty. This book is very interesting, insightful and there is a lot of horror and death. I found it easy to read, well written, and God Bless everyone of these men for fighting for a better world.

Cherie'

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