{"product_id":"our-friends-beneath-the-sands-the-foreign-legion-in-frances-colonial-conquests-18701935-9780297852131","title":"Our Friends Beneath the Sands: The Foreign Legion in France's Colonial Conquests 1870-1935","description":"\u003cp\u003eA superb follow up to The Last Valley  Windrow paints a wonderfully vivid portrait of the Foreign Legions exploits during the turbulent years of French imperial expansion. Saul David  Martin Windrow is at once a connoisseur of the Legion  a master of the battle narrative  and a painstaking scholar  a hat trick of talents that combine to make Our Friends Beneath the Sands a riveting and enlightening read. Douglas Porch  author of The French Foreign Legion: A Complete History  Windrows great strength lies in explaining not just what happened in a battle  but why and how it happened...excellent photographs. James Delingpole  Astounding...meticulous historical research combined with wonderful story-telling.Brigadier Tony Hunter-Choat  Hon. Sec. Foreign Legion Association  GB  Ever since the 1920s the popular legend of the French Foreign Legion has been formed by P.C. Wrens novel Beau Geste - a world of remote forts  warrior tribes  and desperate men of all nationalities enlisting under pseudonyms to fight and die under the desert sun.  As with all cliches  the reality is far richer and more surprising than this. In this book Martin Windrow describes desert battles and famous last stands in gripping detail---but he also shows exactly what the Foreign Legion were doing in North Africa in the first place. He explains how French colonial methods there actually  had their roots in the jungles of Vietnam  and how the political pressures that kept the empire expanding can be traced to battles on the streets of Paris itself. His description of the Berber tribesmen of Morocco also reveals some disturbing modern parallels: the formidable guerrillas of the 1920s were inspired by an Islamic fundamentalist who was adept at using the worlds media to further his cause.  This unique book is the first to examine the golden age of the Foreign Legion in such detail Martin Windrow has been studying the Legion for forty years  and is the first English writer to travel throughout Morocco locating and examining some of their desert and mountain battlefields. His meticulous  research and vivid writing will make this the last word on what remains one of the most famous military organizations in the World.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45275971354677,"sku":"ByrdShop_0297852132","price":240.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780297852131.jpg?v=1780520034","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/our-friends-beneath-the-sands-the-foreign-legion-in-frances-colonial-conquests-18701935-9780297852131","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}