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This is an excellent example of an Osprey Man at Arms series book. While only 48 pages long it is packed with information on a wide range of campaigns during this period and lots of high standard colour plates and black and white line drawings and maps as well as photographs. It details the organisation and military campaigns of one of the world’s most famous military units following the Franco-Prussian war up until the start of the First World War. During this period the legion the only all volunteer white infantry regiment in the French army expanded to treble its size in 1872.
The book gives a taste of the campaigns fought in Vietnam offering insight to what was to come in the aftermath of World War II. Also campaigns in Algeria, West Africa, Madagascar, and Morocco. Although brief these accounts give vivid accounts of the horrors of Colonial warfare during this period and leave the reader with a thirst to find out more. It is these accounts that make up the bulk of the book rather than dry accounts of kit and organisations and this makes this one of the most interesting osprey men at arms book and a must for anyone interested in the unit’s history or the military history of France. The only criticism is that the book is too short as with many of this series and could easily be expanded into a larger format.
Author: Martin Windrow
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 48
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2010