Legionnaire: Five Years in the French Foreign Legion, the World's Toughest Army - Softcover

Simon Murray was nineteen when he joined the French Foreign Legion. Inspired by the romantic myths of Beau Geste, he found himself in the ranks of one of the world's greatest - and toughest - fighting forces. He kept a unique diary of the hard living, harsh discipline, and the military tradition of 'March or Die' which he turned into this gripping book. 'Simon Murray's personal account of a gently reared, well-educated British youth's coming of age in the French Foreign Legion has the drama, excitement and colour of a good guts-and-glory thriller . . . Murray is a talented storyteller, and his fellow legionnaires and their disciplined and proud Corps are vividly portrayed. I was hooked from the first page.' Dr Henry Kissinger 'One of the greatest adventure stories in recent years.' Chris Patten

Simon Murray follows paths the rest of us only dream of. After his adventures in the Legion, he became part of the team that set up the mobile telephone company, Orange. His own highly successful investment company specializes in Far Eastern futures and he has been a 'Taipan' for the biggest Hongs in Hong Kong. Murray's friends read like a list of Who's Who. He is the author of the book Legionnaire: The Real Life Story of an Englishman in the French Foreign Legion. An enthusiastic jet-setter, Murray has homes in the Dordogne, Somerset, Klosters, Phuket, Hong Kong and London.