Legionnaire : five years in the French Foreign Legion, the world's toughest army (Revised edition)

'One of the greatest adventure stories in years.' – Chris Patten 'The drama, excitement and colour of a good guts-and-glory thriller.' – Dr. Henry Kissinger The French Foreign Legion – mysterious, romantic, deadly – is filled with men of dubious character, and hardly the place for a proper Englishman just nineteen years of age.

Yet in 1960, Simon Murray traveled alone to Paris, Marseilles, and on to Algeria to fulfill the toughest contract of his life: a five-year stint in the Legion.

Along the way, he kept a diary. Legionnaire is a compelling, firsthand account of Murray's experience with this legendary band of soldiers.

Subjected to brutal sergeants, merciless training methods and barbaric punishments – all in the hostile, sun-baked North African desert – Murray and his fellow men were pushed to breaking point, and beyond. Sixty years on, it remains a remarkable account of one of the most notorious military groups, a tale of true adventure and one man's determination never to surrender.