Douglas Porch - The French Foreign Legion [2010][A]

Book Description
The French Foreign Legion is a complete, captivating study of the famed fighting force, from its inception in 1831 to modern times. Historian Douglas Porch chronicles the Legion’s involvement in Spain, Mexico, Indochina, Madagascar, WWI, Vietnam, and Algiers (to name a few) and delves into the inner workings of legionnaires and their captains. Known for draconian discipline and shrouded in mystery, the secrets of the Legion are guarded by those who have gained admittance into its elite society. In this thoroughly researched and impressive account, Porch reveals the mysteries surrounding a Legion of “unparalleled exoticism, pathos, and drama.”

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.

From Kirkus Reviews
A thorough account of France's most famous military force, meticulously sifting legend from actual events, by the scholarly chronicler of the French colonial presence in Africa (The Conquest of the Sahara, 1984, etc.). Fittingly, in his analysis of primary materials and historical accounts Porch is able to verify that many legends of the Legion contain more than a grain of truth. From its establishment in 1831 it was intended as a catch basin for the malcontents and desperate men of Europe, many of whom were then swarming into France as political refugees. Assigned originally to the French conquest of Algeria, it began to establish a reputation for itself during a subsequent disastrous campaign in Spain in 1835. In the course of its long career, the Legion has served commendably in Russia and Mexico, in the Franco-Prussian and both World Wars, and in Indochina, where its brave but futile struggle to retain Dien Bien Phu against the Viet Minh in 1954 signaled an end to French colonialism in the region. It was to North Algeria, however, that it was most often returned, and in 1961 Algeria almost became its undoing when prevailing Legion sentiments against Algerian independence led to a crisis with the de Gaulle government and a quickly repressed coup d'‚tat. As a result of this colorful history, the Legion emerges here with a life of its own, complemented by assessments of the sociopolitical situation. Stimulating reading for adventurers and serious students alike--an informative, lively view of a unique military presence in modern times. (For a searing first-person account of service in the Legion, see Christian Jennings's A Mouthful of Rocks, 1989). (Thirty-two pages of halftones--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From The Washington Post
"Unparalleled in the thoughtfulness and detail of its coverage." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author
Douglas Porch is a historian and a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He has been a professor of strategy at the Naval War College and has lectured at the U.S. Army War College and the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy. He is the author of various books on military history, including The Conquest of the Sahara and The French Foreign Legion. He lives in Pebble Beach, California.

Most Helpful Customer Review
Best book to date about the Foreign Legion
By William J. Shepherd on October 3, 1998
Format: 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.