The author of the book, journalist and traveler Vasily Zhuravlev, talks in it about the most multilingual military elite unit of the French army in the world - the French Foreign Legion - on the basis of archival materials and personal communication with legionnaires. Little is known about the difficult service in the legion - more often there is an opinion about it as a collection of criminal elements performing dirty work in different parts of the world. The author manages to eliminate the negative perception of the activities of the legion, demonstrating a huge layer of bright personalities - privates and officers who served at different times. He explains why our compatriots also serve in the ranks of the legion, although Russian legislation prohibits and punishes this as mercenary. It will become clear why the service in the legion is prestigious, why the spirit of honor, loyalty, self-sacrifice reigns in it, there is no racism and "hazing" and what is behind the motto "Our Motherland is the Legion!"