BOOK REVIEW Airfix Magazine Guide 13: THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION BY MARTIN WINDROW Published on 23rd March,1976 priced at œ1 40 A Patrick Stephens book, published in association with Airfix Products Limited. One of history's toughest and most respected fighting units, the French Foreign Legion has attracted perhaps more than its fair share of myth and legend, but has also covered itself in justly deserved glory. First formed in 1831 for service in France's new colonial ventures, the Legion has seen action all over the world, from North Africa to Mexico and the Far East. Its most famous battles-- Camerone, Bir Hakeim and Dien Bien Phu--are household names, while its kepi and uniform are familiar to every schoolboy. From its earliest days as virtually an armed rabble, used principally for manual labour, the Legion gradually established itself as a rough, tough and thoroughly reliable military force, which successive French governments over the years have used as a mobile 'fire brigade' wherever the fighting has been dirtiest and hottest. This, together with the fact that the Legion is home and family to many of the desperate and disillusioned men of all nationalities who have joined its ranks, has engendered a tremendous pride and esprit de corps, while the example set by the Legion's heroes-- such as Captain Danjou, who lost his life at Camerone--makes the Legion's troops some of the most reliable in the world when the chips are down. In this new book Martin Windrow, one of the world's famous scholars of the Legion's history, traces its development from its earliest days fighting in Algeria in the 1830's and '40's, through the Crimean and Italian campaigns of the 1850's, the abortive Mexican venture in the 1860's, the Franco Prussian war, its service in North Africa, Madagascar and the Far East during the last quarter of the 19th Century and the first years of the 20th, through World War 1 and back to North Africa and Syria between the wars, into World War 2 and the post-war disasters in Indo-China, right up to the present day. As well as outlining its campaigns, its epic marches and heroic stands, the author also describes its organisation, uniforms, badges and equipment. Throughout, the book is lavishly illustrated with old photographs and contemporary drawings, as well as several uniform sketches by renowned military artist Gerry Embleton and photos of model figures, making this an ideal book for anyone wishing to study the facts of the Legion (rather than the glamour of romantic fiction).