Unique account of elite French soldiers who went to war in
Algeria and fought such a bitter war,
only now is it spoken of.
This work is dedicated to the thousands who served in the dragoon
parachute regiments, those of all ranks who went “above and beyond” what was
thought possible between 1955 and 1962, specifically the 84 men who landed on
the other side of the Mediterranean during the
war and who have resisted identifying themselves for many years. Splendidly
illustrated with several hundred photos displaying uniforms and insignia from
the period, Bruschi brings to life the faces and landscape that have been
transformed throughout the years.
The fruit of long years of research, the author has relied upon the
most precise sources and provides a voice for the many men who, from all corners
of France, accepted to bear witness of
their Algerian fate for the men of the 13th during these years of war. These are
the men who we will follow throughout the course of Bruschi’s work, across the
snow-covered mountains and the deep forests of Kabylia, on the rocky paths of
Constantine, all the way to the burning sand of
the Sahara. These men who, in their late
twenties, encountered extreme fatigue, fear, and death in order to finally
achieve, in what was face-to-face combat with the enemy, “that which could only
come from the depths of their beings.” 13ème RDP includes 300 photos of which
100 are colour, action shots and images documenting the uniforms and
equipment.
