Die Fremdenlegion. Kolonialismus, Söldnertum, Gewalt 1831-1962

The Foreign Legion: Colonialism, Mercenaries, Violence The Foreign Legion as a mercenary force appears as both a successor of early modern mercenary armies and a forerunner of current tendencies towards ‘privatization’ of warfare. This study, based on legionnaires’ autobiographical writing and archival sources gathered in France, the UK and Switzerland, for the first time systematically analyses the Legion as both a European and extra-European masculine space of experience, focusing on its microstructures, problems of different national and social backgrounds, formal and informal hierarchies and types of comradeship as well as Legionnaires’ interactions with people in the colonies, ranging from military encounters to sexual contacts.