March Or Die - Softcover

Geraghty, Tony

3.85

47 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006531741 ISBN 13: 9780006531746

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2001

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A thoroughly updated history of the legendary French Foreign Legion by the bestselling author of Who Dares Wins

Tony Geraghty analyses the legend and re-examines the battle honours of the Foreign Legion, and his revelations illuminate the darker side of its historic relationship to the motherland. Called into being in 1831 as a device to absorb the footloose veterans of Napoleon’s old armies, the French Foreign Legion subsequently won astonishing victories in the farflung battlefields of Spain, the Crimea, Algeria and Morrocco, Italy, Mexico, Syria, Indo-China, Madagascar, and West and Central Africa.

March or Die also traces the Legion's diminished fortunes in recent years. It has fought in the Gulf War, Rwanda and Kosovo among other conflicts, but has found itself in 'a world of political correctness which left the Legion marooned on an island of admirable but anachronistic values'. Forced to accept women in its ranks and no longer unique now that conscription has been abolished, it is searching for its place in the modern world.

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Review:

'A splendid piece of Boy's Own Paper story-telling with blood and thunder accounts of deeds of derring-do by the Legion's "lost souls"' Mail on Sunday

‘A remarkable fighting unit, faithfully and excitingly described by Tony Geraghty.’
Sunday Telegraph

‘As a reference book, March or Die cannot be faulted’
TLS

From the Back Cover:

The bestselling author of 'Who Dares Wins: The Story of the SAS' analyses the legend and re-examines the battle honours of the Foreign Legion, illuminating the darker side of its historic relationship to the motherland as well as its triumphs.

Called into being in 1831 as a device to absorb the footloose veterans on Napoleon's old armies, the French Foreign Legion subsequently won astonishing victories in far-flung battlefields, from Spain, Algeria and Morocco to indo-China, and West and Central Africa. The legionnaires gained fame for their utter dedication and willingness to die, yet were viewed with suspicion and repeatedly betrayed by successive French governments.

Tony Geraghty also traces the Legion's diminished fortunes in recent years. It has fought in the Gulf War, Rwanda and Kosovo among other conflicts, but has found itself in 'a world of political correctness which left the legion marooned on an island of admirable but anachronistic values'.

"A splendid piece of Boy's Own Paper story-telling with blood and thunder accounts of derring-do by the Legion's 'lost souls'"
MAIL ON SUNDAY

"Tony Geraghty has written an excellent, fully researched history of the Legion"
EVENING STANDARD

"As a reference book 'March or Die' cannot be faulted"
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

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