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We - The Condemned
A foreign legion thriller…
A band of Legionnaires had descended like vultures on the peaceful Arab village of Duaka, and burned it to the ground. The attackers had brutally murdered with Legion rifles a score of the men of the village, even as their terrified weeping wives and children looked on. They had lashed the Headman, Aslamm, to the ground in the sight of his people and tortured him to the point of death before leaving. Somehow, Aslamm had dragged himself to Fort Valeau, to demand of his friend Captain Monclaire an explanation for the outrage.
Fort Valeau was the only Legion garrison for hundreds of miles, and Monclaire had given no such order. So who had attacked the village—and why?
John Robb (1917-1993) was born Norman Robson in Northumberland, England. Aged nineteen, he became a journalist, working on the Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Daily Express . After war service in the army and as a correspondent, Robb joined The Star in Sheffield. Writing as John Robb, he became a prominent novelist. His first two novels in 1951 were Space Beam and No Time For Corpses . He went on to write the successful Legion novels, based as they were on his own experiences.
A band of Legionnaires had descended like vultures on the peaceful Arab village of Duaka, and burned it to the ground. The attackers had brutally murdered with Legion rifles a score of the men of the village, even as their terrified weeping wives and children looked on. They had lashed the Headman, Aslamm, to the ground in the sight of his people and tortured him to the point of death before leaving. Somehow, Aslamm had dragged himself to Fort Valeau, to demand of his friend Captain Monclaire an explanation for the outrage.
Fort Valeau was the only Legion garrison for hundreds of miles, and Monclaire had given no such order. So who had attacked the village—and why?
John Robb (1917-1993) was born Norman Robson in Northumberland, England. Aged nineteen, he became a journalist, working on the Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Daily Express . After war service in the army and as a correspondent, Robb joined The Star in Sheffield. Writing as John Robb, he became a prominent novelist. His first two novels in 1951 were Space Beam and No Time For Corpses . He went on to write the successful Legion novels, based as they were on his own experiences.
121 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2014
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5 people want to read
About the author
John Robb
111 books106 followersAuthor/Music Scribe/TV Presenter/Environmental Activist and Bass Player for perennial post-punk survivors The Membranes, John Robb is a man who cannot sit still. When he’s not touring with his band (they recently toured in Europe with The Stranglers, The Chameleons and Fields Of The Nephilim), he’s presenting, moderating or writing for his popular UK music site Louder Than War. John has previously written the best-selling books “Punk Rock : An Oral History” and “The North Will Rise Again : Manchester Music City 1976-1996”. His latest opus is the 550-page “The Art Of Darkness : The History of Goth”, an in-depth account that he feels presents the first major and comprehensive overview of Goth music and culture and its lasting legacy.
Starting with a night out in a Goth club, it then takes us on a deep-dive into the wider culture, exploring the social conditions that created ‘Goth’ in the post-punk period. It examines the fall of Rome, Lord Byron and the romantic poets, European folk tales, Gothic architecture and painters, the occult to modern-day Instagram influencers.
The book is built mainly around the 80s post-punk Goth period featuring interviews with Andrew Eldritch, Killing Joke, Bauhaus, The Cult, The Banshees, The Damned, Einstürzende Neubauten, Johnny Marr, Trent Reznor, Adam Ant, Laibach, The Cure, Nick Cave and many others. …it looks at the music, style and the political and social conditions that spawned the culture and the great music, fashions and attitudes - clubs that defined it, and is also a first-hand account of being there at some of the legendary gigs and clubs that made the scene happen...
Starting with a night out in a Goth club, it then takes us on a deep-dive into the wider culture, exploring the social conditions that created ‘Goth’ in the post-punk period. It examines the fall of Rome, Lord Byron and the romantic poets, European folk tales, Gothic architecture and painters, the occult to modern-day Instagram influencers.
The book is built mainly around the 80s post-punk Goth period featuring interviews with Andrew Eldritch, Killing Joke, Bauhaus, The Cult, The Banshees, The Damned, Einstürzende Neubauten, Johnny Marr, Trent Reznor, Adam Ant, Laibach, The Cure, Nick Cave and many others. …it looks at the music, style and the political and social conditions that spawned the culture and the great music, fashions and attitudes - clubs that defined it, and is also a first-hand account of being there at some of the legendary gigs and clubs that made the scene happen...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 20, 2019
We - The Condemned
An interesting adventure story set in the late 19th to early 20th century Morocco in the style of Lawerence of Arabia. However, the book suffers from poor OCR and a lack of editing from the scan of the source book. You can get the gist of it, but it really breaks up the flow of the story when you have to decipher what the word is supposed to be.
An interesting adventure story set in the late 19th to early 20th century Morocco in the style of Lawerence of Arabia. However, the book suffers from poor OCR and a lack of editing from the scan of the source book. You can get the gist of it, but it really breaks up the flow of the story when you have to decipher what the word is supposed to be.
October 29, 2018
Good Story
This was a very good book. The only problem I have with this Kindle version is that there are more typos than you can shake a stick at. No proof reading was done.
This was a very good book. The only problem I have with this Kindle version is that there are more typos than you can shake a stick at. No proof reading was done.
November 3, 2018
There is the regular French Foreign Legion and then there is the Zephyrs Battalion. The second one is composed of the dregs of every existing FFL and are practically prisoners and therefore useful for manual labor like in laying down oil pipelines in the desert. And so there they were, all 400 strong of highly trained soldiers with their extraordinary criminal tendencies, abilities, inclinations and impulses. Given their number, their commonality, and their isolated environment ~ how could the Foreign Legion authorities let them be in one place without strong military supervision and not even take other necessary precautionary measures to prevent any revolts since those have occurred in the past but involving a small number of dissenters and were eventually put down? The situation is ripe for a mutiny which apparently succeeded with the very charismatic cold~blooded and forceful leader ~ the Italian anarchist and poet, Pavani. Their isolation plus the present situation where they are clearly out~numbered to fight the Zephyrs as well as maintain peace with the Arab people given that the Zephyrs have massacred the people at a village in Duaka putting the blame on the Legionnaires at the fort ~ will bring out the heroes, the cowards and the traitors among them (among the Legionnaires at Fort Valeau, that is). There is quite a good interplay and smooth handling by the author of all the characters with their very relatable human flaws and the very plausible actions of Monclaire vis~a~vis Pavani's decisions in outwitting the Captain and of course, the Captain's natural progression of redemption as the plot progresses.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews