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A few years ago I began looking at novels written in the early 1900’s thinking to compliment the First World War trilogy I had previously written and I found and read many of the terrific action-adventure stories written about the French Foreign Legion set in the tumultuous northern Africa of that time period. While I was drawn to the format, I did not want to write anything pro-colonialist or anti-Muslim – biases which are deeply embedded in some (but not all) of the stories written in that time period. But I also did not want to dismiss the honor and fortitude of the men who served in the French Foreign Legion, what they brought to that brotherhood, and what they sacrificed in the sands of the Sahara.

I ended up writing a broader novel with four main protagonists, one of whom is a French Foreign Legionnaire. The novel is entitled Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad, a work of historical fiction, set in the Maghreb in the early 1900s, which traces multiple intersecting storylines: French Foreign Legionnaires engaged in desert campaigns, Moroccan tribal resistance, a Swedish widow living in Fez, and an American archaeologist searching for lost treasure. While many French Foreign Legion memoirs depict the lives of new recruits to La Legion, one of my four main characters is an older, long-time Foreign Legion NCO, Sergent Jacques Demoreau, who has made a home for himself in the fortresses of the Sahara. Fact-based episodes in the story include the Doui-Menia attack near Igli in 1900, the battle at Taghit in 1903, and the French bombardment of Casablanca in 1907. Through these narratives, the book depicts military actions, cross-cultural encounters, and the challenges of survival in the Sahara, at a time when the old Maghreb was rapidly being changed by French colonialism. But I also want to convey something of the camaraderie of the Legionnaires and their sense of honor and tradition.

Certainly in researching the novel, I read many adventure stories from the old pulp fiction magazines, but these mostly helped me with writing an adventurous narrative. For hard facts, I mostly used memoirs of actual Legionnaires of that time period (and memoir-based fiction) like these: A Soldier of the Legion by George Mannington (1907); In the Foreign Legion by Erwin Rosen (1911); Life in the Legion: From a Soldier’s Point of View by Frederic Martyn (1911); The Wages of Virtue by P.C. Wren (1914); A Soldier of the Legion by C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson (1914); and The French Foreign Legion by Douglas Porch (2010).

I hope it’s a novel that anyone interested in the French Foreign Legion would enjoy and appreciate.

TAMANRASSET is historical fiction set on the edge of the Sahara as the ancient world begins to fade and great empires collide. Four strangers—a mature Foreign Legionnaire, a Sharif’s wrathful son, an ambitious American archaeologist, and an abandoned Swedish widow—become adrift and isolated, but when their paths intersect, the fragile connections between them tell a story of survival and fate on the edge of the abyss. Blending the sweep of classic adventure with the horror of a great historical calamities, Edward Parr’s TAMANRASSET is a saga about the crossroads where nomads meet.

Enjoy an Excerpt

The Sun had not yet risen above the ruins of the Mechouar Palace, but at the mosque nearby many Muslim people of the city of Tlemcen were already at their morning prayer. It was a great privilege to be admitted to one of the oldest mosques in Algeria, over eight hundred years old, and an even greater privilege to be allowed to pray before the mihrab there among the great white columns that lined the enormous hall. As the prayers ended, there was a gentle rustling of movement as the faithful rose and exited to the open and airy marble-tiled courtyard of the mosque, still quiet in the twilight of dawn. Isabel retrieved her leather boots and exited a side door beneath the shadow of the towering brick minaret. Covered by her tightly drawn dark brown burnouse, khaki pants, white shirt, and a black hijab, Isabel walked along the great stone wall to the main gate of the palace. The few buildings in the complex that were still usable had been made into offices for the French army, but the pool and gardens of the central courtyard were peaceful and shadowy. She passed an alcove that featured Islamic calligraphy carved into the stucco, and Isabel stopped to read it: “Allah is God, there is no god but He: the King.”

A quiet voice behind her asked: “Madame Pedersen?”

She turned to find a short, elegantly dressed French officer approaching her. His flat-topped white hair was soldierly, but his crisp, tailored uniform, polished boots, and wide waxed mustache displayed a carefully composed appearance.

“Peace be with you,” she said, casting her eyes downward and crossing her arm over her chest as she nodded.

“Peace be with you, Madame. I apologize if I disturbed you; will you come inside?”

“As you wish.”

She followed the French colonel to a charming wood-paneled room overlooking an orchard of citrus trees bearing large green fruit. The colonel sat on a bare wood chair beside a wide wooden table, crossed his legs, and twirled the end of his wide mustache. Isabel stood silently before him in a respectful posture.

“I have the greatest respect for your beliefs, my dear, but it would be helpful to me if you would sit and speak to me informally. Would you be so kind?”

“Of course,” she said and she sat on the chair beside his. Her demeanor now expressed more of her experience and self-assurance, her hijab more a symbol of her confidence than of her humility. The colonel raised an eyebrow in appreciation of her serene face and brilliant blue eyes.

© 2025 by Edward Parr and Edwardian Press (New Orleans, Louisiana)

About the Author: Edward (“Ted”) Parr studied playwriting at New York University in the 1980’s, worked with artists Robert Wilson, Anne Bogart, and the Bread and Puppet Theater, and staged his own plays Off-Off-Broadway, including Trask, Mythographia, Jason and Medea, Rising and an original translation of Oedipus Rex before pursuing a lengthy career in the law and public service. He published his Kingdoms Fall trilogy of World War One espionage adventure novels which were collectively awarded Best First Novel and Best Historical Fiction Novel by Literary Classics in 2016. He has always had a strong interest in expanding narrative forms, and in his novel writing, he explores older genres of fiction (like the pulp fiction French Foreign Legion adventures or early espionage fiction) as inspiration to examine historical periods of transformation. His main writing inspirations are Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Bernard Cornwell, Georges Surdez, and Patrick O’Brien.

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