High adventure in the sands of North Africa

It is often claimed that Under Two Flags is the first-and possibly most famous-in a series of French Foreign Legion novels. It has been filmed and the images it conjures of sweating foot slogging legionnaires are familiar and iconic. In fact, it is a novel where the principal character is introduced to us as consummate officer of the British Household Cavalry and his adventures under the Tricolour begin when he joins, perhaps understandably, another cavalry regiment of the French Army of Africa-the corps d'elite of the Chasseurs d'Afrique! While that may turn many preconceptions of some potential readers on their head it does not prevent this story from being a substantial and engaging romp in the shifting sands of French Colonial Algeria. The Hon. Bertie Cecil finds his honesty and honour falsely compromised and to spare his lady love he abandons his privileged position in the Life Guards and absconds-accompanied only by his manservant, Rake-to an uncertain future within the ranks as a trooper of French Cavalry. Thankfully, danger, intrigue and adventure are not done with our hero and he must battle through them assisted by a femme fatale--the ever memorable Cigarette-to this wonderful tale's climactic conclusion.