''Tarzan and the Foreign Legion'' is a novel by American writer

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

, the twenty-second in his series of twenty-four books about the title character

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

. The book, written June–September 1944 while Burroughs was living in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

and published in 1947, was the last new work by Burroughs to be published during his life (''

Llana of Gathol ''Llana of Gathol'' is a collection of four science fantasy stories by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, which were originally published in ''Amazing Stories'' in 1941. The first collected edition of ''Llana of Gathol'' was published in 1948 ...

'', the tenth book in the Barsoom series, was published in 1948, but it was a collection of four stories originally published in ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

'' in 1941). The novel is set during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. The term "foreign legion" does not refer to the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

, but is the name given in the book to a small international force (including Tarzan) fighting the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

. The book was offered to ''Argosy'' magazine, in 1945, for serial publication, as per every Tarzan story previously, but the story was rejected by them and returned. Burroughs published it himself, almost two years later.

Plot summary

While serving in the

R.A.F. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

under his civilian name of John Clayton, Tarzan is shot down over the island of

in the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

-occupied

. He uses his jungle survival skills to save his comrades-in-arms, and they fight the Japanese while seeking escape from enemy territory. Tarzan also reveals to his companions how in his youth, after saving the life of a

witch doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to healers, particularly in regions which use traditional healing ...

, he was rewarded by treatment that gave him perpetual youth. His companions ask if he is also immortal and he says no. According to ''

Tarzan Alive ''Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke'' is a fictional biography by American author Philip José Farmer, that alleges the life of Edgar Rice Burroughs' character Tarzan, is a story of a real person. The book was first published ...

'',

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...

's study of the ape man's life and career, the incident related occurred in January 1912.Farmer, Philip José.
Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke
'. Doubleday, 1972.

Adaptations

The book has been adapted into comic form by

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...

in ''

'' nos. 192–193, dated June and July 1970.

References

External links

*
ERBzine.com Illustrated Bibliography entry for Edgar Rice Burroughs' ''Tarzan and the Foreign Legion''
* ttp://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600701.txt Text of the novel at Project Gutenberg Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarzan And The Foreign Legion 1947 American novels 1947 fantasy novels Novels adapted into comics Novels set in Indonesia Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs Royal Air Force mass media Novels set during World War II