A foreign legion thriller. A band of Legionnaires had descended like vultures on the peaceful Arab village of Duaka, and burned it to the ground. The attackers had brutally murdered with Legion rifles a score of the men of the village, even as their terrified weeping wives and children looked on. They had lashed the Headman, Aslamm, to the ground in the sight of his people and tortured him to the point of death before leaving. Somehow, Aslamm had dragged himself to Fort Valeau, to demand of his friend Captain Monclaire an explanation for the outrage. Fort Valeau was the only Legion garrison for hundreds of miles, and Monclaire had given no such order. So who had attacked the village--and why? John Robb (1917-1993) was born Norman Robson in Northumberland, England. Aged nineteen, he became a journalist, working on the Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Daily Express.

After war service in the army and as a correspondent, Robb joined The Star in Sheffield. Writing as John Robb, he became a prominent novelist. His first two novels in 1951 were Space Beam and No Time For Corpses. He went on to write the successful Legion novels, based as they were on his own experiences.