Library

This is the Monlegionnaire Library where you can download a number of public domain e-books on the French Foreign Legion.  I’ve provided a link to my own modified PDF books and also a link to the Internet Archive (or other page) from which you may choose other formats and/or read online in their embedded reader.   Check back here often as I’ll be posting more items throughout the year.

FICTION:

1.  A Soldier of the Legion by C. N. & A. M. Williamson.  A romance of Algiers, the Legion and the desert. 1914.  DOWNLOAD: .mobi .pdf    Internet Archive

2.  The Foreign Legion / The Red Mirage by I. A. R. Wylie.  The Foreign Legion is the movie title of the novel The Red Mirage.  Another romantic adventure set in England and North Africa. 1914.  DOWNLOAD: .pdf     Internet Archive

3.  The Truants by A. E. W. Mason.  A romantic novel about an Englishman who sets off to clear his name in the Legion. 1904.  DOWNLOAD: .mobi .epub .pdf    Internet Archive

4.  In the Wake of the Green Banner by Eugene Paul Metour.  Romantic adventure in North Africa with the Foreign Legion as a minor presence in the plot.  1909. DOWNLOAD: .pdf    Internet Archive

5.  Garrison Tales of Tonquin by James O Neill.  Short story collection based on the American author’s service in the Legion circa 1887-92.  1895.  DOWNLOAD: .pdf  Internet Archive

6.  Atlantida by Pierre Benoit.  A fantastical story of two French Spahi officers who are kidnapped by the ancient and malevolent Queen Antinea who seeks to add the men to her “collection”.  No Foreign Legion but a different type of adventure set in the Sahara.  1919. DOWNLOAD: .pdf    Internet Archive

7. Lost Sheep by Vere Shortt.  A very hard to find work written by a former legionnaire.  English officer escapes to the Legion to avoid disgrace due to gambling woes.  Finds a new life and a fantastic adventure in the inferno of the Sahara.  .pdf   Internet Archive

8. Death Squads in Morocco by W. J. Blackledge. …as told by Ex-Legionnaire Terry Brennan.  A pretty outlandish tale of men battling both the Legion and the natives in Morocco.  .pdf     Digital Library of India

7. The Demon Caravan by Georges Surdez.  Paul Lartal is an officer in the French Native Camel Corps who “at a hidden oasis in the Sahara, becomes the prospective bridegroom at an Arab wedding feast”.  Some characters were former Legionnaires.  .pdf   Internet Archive

8. Hungry Crawford by Walter Karig (1920).  Walter Karig is said to have served in the Foreign Legion in WWI but there is scarce evidence of this in contemporary news articles and books written about the American Legionnaires at the time.  Nonetheless he wrote this book in 1929.  It is very rare and it was surprising to find it available at Hathi Trust. .pdf

9. Lost Sons by Stefan Olivier (1961).  A well done, hard to find novel that features mainly German Legionnaires in Algeria and Indochina.  Originally published in German. .pdf

10. The Key Man by Valentine Williams (1926).  This book contains very little content pertaining to the Foreign Legion.  I include this in the library to let other know and read it themselves.  It is a Valentine Williams book–an author known for his mysteries and thrillers.  .mobi

11. The Last Deserter by John Robb (2011).  This is a reprint of a John Robb Foreign Legion adventure story originally published in 1952.  Robb wrote several Legion adventure stories such as Red Radford. .pdf

P. C. WREN (Fiction):

1. Wages of Virtue.  Wrens first Foreign Legion novel written in 1914 and published in 1916.  It takes place mostly in the garrison and bars of Sidi Bel Abbes. .mobi  .epub  .pdf   Faded Page Internet Archive

2. Beau Geste.  This is the classic novel of the Foreign Legion published in 1924 that started a huge surge in Legion related fiction and movies. .mobi .epub  .pdf    Faded Page  Internet Archive

3. Beau Sabreur.  The sequel to Beau Geste published in 1926. .mobi .epub  .pdf    Faded Page 

4. Beau Ideal.  The third book in the Beau Geste trilogy published in 1928. .mobi .epub  .pdf  Faded Page  Internet Archive

5. Valiant Dust.  Novel and sequel to Soldier’s of Misfortune.  Otho Belleme is in the Legion fighting Arabs.  More Legion, less boxing.     Faded Page    

6. The Fort in the Jungle.  .mobi  .epub   Faded Page

7. Flawed Blades. Short Story Collection. .mobi

8. Port O’Missing Men. Short story collection. .mobi

9. Stepsons of France. Short story collection. .mobi

10. Stories of the Foreign Legion. Short Story Collection. .mobi  .epub

NON-FICTION:

1.  In the Foreign Legion by Erwin Rosen.  Despite the author’s desertion from the Legion after 11 months he managed to pen a classic account of life in the Foreign Legion circa 1905.  Also published as In the Foreign Legion, by Légionnaire 17889.  1911. DOWNLOAD: .pdf  Internet Archive

2.  A Soldier of the Legion by George Mannington.  Excellent account of “an Englishman’s adventures under the French flag in Algeria and Tonquin” circa 1890-95.  1907.  DOWNLOAD: .pdf   Google Books

3.  Life in the Legion by Frederic Martyn.  From a Soldiers Point of View. Englishman’s memoir of life in the Foreign Legion from 1889 to 1894 with long account of service in Tonkin.  1911. DOWNLOAD: .pdf   Internet Archive

4.  Yankee Fighter by Lt. John F. Hasey.  Memoir of an American who served in the Foreign Legion during WWII.  1942.  DOWNLOAD: .pdf   Internet Archive

5.  Memoirs of the Foreign Legion by Maurice Magnus.  American author joined the Foreign Legion in Algeria to fight in France during WWI but poor conditions prompts him to desert.  1925.  DOWNLOAD: .pdf    Internet Archive

6.  A Royal Adventurer in the Foreign Legion by H. H. Prince Aage of Denmark.  Classic memoir written by a Foreign Legion legend mainly about fighting the Rif in Morocco.  1927.  DOWNLOAD: .pdf     Internet Archive

7.  “L. M. 8046” by David Wooster King.  Alternate title Ten Thousand Shall Fall.  An American in the Foreign Legion in 1917 on the Western Front.  1927.  DOWNLOAD: .pdf    Internet Archive

8.  A Modern Legionary by John Patrick Le Poer.  Irishman’s tale of his time in the Legion and his epic desertion from same.  1904. DOWNLOAD: .pdf,   Internet Archive

9.  In Order to Die by Henry Ainley.  Englisman’s experiences in the Foreign Legion and Indochina.  1955.  DOWNLOAD  .pdf    Internet Archive

10. Nothing To Lose by Colin John.  Another Englishman’s memoir of service in the Legin during the 1st Indochina War. 1956.   .pdf    Internet Archive

11. The White Kepi by Walter Kanitz.  Not the best account of the Foreign Legion but here it is nonetheless.  .pdf

12. In Morocco with General d’Amade.  Well written, detailed account of 1907 French incursion into Morocco. This book covers the fighting in 1908 when French forces, including many Foreign Legion units, pursued rebellious tribesmen in the Moroccan interior. .pdf  Internet Archive

13.  Legion of the Damned by Bennett Doty (1926).  This is a classic Foreign Legion memoir written by an American who had previously served in the Spanish Foreign Legion.  It contains a great account of the Battle of Mussifire, Syria, that took place in 1925 as well as the author’s subsequent desertion. .pdf

14.  Journey Without End by Francis A. Waterhouse (1940).  The author made a pretty good living writing both fiction and non-fiction works about the Foreign Legion in the 1930’s.  He recaps his life of adventure in this autobiographical book. .pdf