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Legion of the Lost: The True Experience of an American in the French Foreign Legion

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Author: Jaime Salazar
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Category: Book

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3 reviews
Sales Rank: 243184

Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 1

ISBN: 0425210154
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780425210154
ASIN: 0425210154

Publication Date: August 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - Legion of the Lost: The True Experience of an American in the French Foreign Legion
•	Hardcover - Legion of the Lost : The True Experience of An American in the French Foreign Legion

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

A portrayal of a brutal training regime September 9, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

Legion of the Lost differs from most other books about the FFL in that it doesn't have any content about actual combat. Jaime Salazar's experience is one of the legion during training, and captures well the aimlessness with which so many of the world's modern armies (Israel excluded) now seethe. In a world that was once gripped by wars and localised conflicts, the "new world order" is one that breeds aimless soldiers.

Salazar gives a potrayal of a bestial, brutal regime that strips the romance surrounding the FFL. Surprisingly though, Salazar's book is a loving homage to the legion that he loved and wanted to honour. His observations could be mistaken as complaints, however Salazar is clear about his commitment to the Legion; and equally clear about the Legion's lack of commitment to its own men: the hard beatings, Spartan brutality used to anneal the men into the kind of killers that France needs to do its international dirty-work, his descent from civilised human being into a hard-drinking, hard-sexing beast that's always skirting the edges of trouble. Salazar describes the neglect which underpins so much of the FFL, despite their promises of adventure and camaraderie: equipment is old hand-me-downs from the conventional army and legionairre recruits are forced to undergo training with sub-standard kit, facing hard-beatings and cruelty if they don't perform to standard. The high-standard kit is for sale - by the corrupt NCO's who charge a high premium. The FFL may be an admired fighting force, but it will never match the effectiveness in terms of unit-cohesion and tactical teamwork and survival rates, because at least modern armies (while undergoing hard training regimes) know how to build their recruits up and steer their recruits through encouragement as well as harsh discipline. Salazar describes the FFL's NCO's as being, in the main, psychopaths who know how to tear down, but not build up.

Salazar's book is a brutally honest look at a fighting force surrounded by myth and mystery - a book that strips away the romance only to reveal the myth and mystery truly does exist, but in a more severe and embittered incarnation.

Salazar describes his own blazing determination to earn his Kepi Blanc, the hardship he endured, the unnecessary brutality and bizarre camaraderie, the fragmentation of ethnic groups within the FFL; but also the pride and love he took in being a legionnaire and his own confused descent into identity-crisis as the FFL finally breaks him.

His work describes the Legion as an abusive parent - one that administers unrelenting discipline and refuses to give love.
The pain and loss Salazar feels when rejected by the Legion he so longed to be a part of oozes like tears from the pages of the book.

You get a clear sense that if you were to meet this man in person, you'd find someone forever changed by the Legion, caught in a limbo of love-hate, unable to decide which way to go. Sadly, I think his condition is probably representative of many who've been in the Legion.

1 out of 5 stars

Romantic vision up in smoke October 13, 2005
18 out of 19 found this review helpful

I have read dozens of books about legion life, the histories, the tales of individual battles, personal accounts and training manuals yet this book surprised me I thought after reading Christain Jennings 'Mouthful of Rocks' that I'd really be unlucky to come across a book as whinging and depressing again. Sadly I wasn't that lucky. In 'Legion of the Lost' we hear what peacetime legion life is like through the eyes of a privillaged American graduate. He doesn't stop complaining from start to finish. He moans about training, the caporals, the facilities, the uniform even the women he meets when off duty.
To be fair he gives a good historical backround to the legion but no better than any of the offical histories. If you are a fan of the legion I would sugest that there are better books on legion life out there such as Tony Sloane's 'The Naked Soldier', or Bill Parris' 'The Making of a Legionnaire' or indeed the classic Simon Murray's 'Legionnaire'. If you have read everything else on the 'legion of the damned' then give it a go.

5 out of 5 stars

my favourite book on the legion October 1, 2005
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Im a big fan of the the french foreign legion and have considered joining myself. This is my 3rd book on the legion and is by far the best detailed account of what happened. Definately recommended, its a must-read to find out for yourself..