Since
its
formation,
the
Legion
has been
a great
crucible
which
receives
the
drifters
and
wanderers
of all
nations
-- and
either
breaks
them
entirely
or makes
men of
them.
Its
ranks
are
recruited
from the
odds and
ends of
humanity,
such as
George
Bradley,
the
American,
who
joined
it
because
a woman
proved
faithless;
or
Charlie
Coates,
who had
left
England
for
reasons
of his
own.
Men like
brutal
Sergeant
Lormier
were
there
also,
with a
few
officers
like
Lieutenant
Fachamin,
who
trusted
the man
in the
regiment
impartially
and
justly.
The
deadly
enemy of
Bradley
and
Coates,
Lormier
persecutes
them
mercilessly
until
Mohammed
el Yafiz
rallies
the
desert
tribesmen
to drive
the
French
into the
sea.
Then,
under
the
scorching
desert
sun, the
Legion
fights
it out
against
the
onslaught
of
thousands
of
fanatical
Arabs in
a novel
filled
throughout
with
conflict,
action
and
drama.
