[fantasyfan]

Beau Geste by P C Wren is probably the iconic French Foreign Legion adventure novel. It is far more elaborate than the film with a series of adventures after the famous Battle for the Desert Fort.

I'm not sure that modern readers will appreciate either the paternalistic, colonial attitude dominating most of the book or the "stiff upper lip" approach--especially in that final chapter--but at its best the novel is a definite page-turner.