"Sex, Drugs, Violence, Latin Mass.

In a world of 'mere males,' many long for the life of soldiering as a route to transform into a true man. But few with the high educational credentials of the author of Monastery of the Damned ever escape the ivory tower to act on that longing. This book is reminiscent of Ernst Jünger in the way it connects the stark, brutal, and often beautiful personal experience of war with illuminating historical, philosophical, and literary insights. The result is a unique perspective on the destiny of Christendom, the 'West,' the men who dwell therein, and the possible sources for their renewal. It is, notably, a perspective hardly anywhere to be found in contemporary cultural debates, even among the more avant-garde fringes of the New Right. Along the way, the reader is vicariously inducted into the working system of the world's great living military traditions. The style is of a richness rarely seen today, but without pretense or sentimentality. I found it hard to put down." 

—Alex Petkas, Creator and host, Cost of Glory podcast

“Nicholas Tobias’ book recounts his entry into the French Foreign Legion and what ensued: a story that must be viewed as extraordinary by the vast majority of contemporary Western mankind given the abrupt abandonment of martial values that had persisted since preclassical times, notwithstanding the advent of originally pacifist Christianity. Nicholas did not accept this abandonment and instead looked for an opportunity to test his character in the Legion, which was once the refuge of rogues and is now the refuge of men who aspire to be warriors. I, too, volunteered to fight, but originally I did so to serve a cause I deeply believe in, and it was only during the ensuing warfare that I discovered that combat is the most seductive of human endeavors, which heightens one’s existence to the highest level precisely because it might end it, as Achilles clearly explains in The Iliad. This is no ordinary book, and Nicholas is no ordinary writer.”

—Edward Luttwak, author of Coup d’État: A Practical Handbook, historian, and strategist

“A thoughtful young man deems unworthy the mentality and mores of contemporary America. After Oxford and Princeton, does he turn to drink, drugs, and promiscuous copulation to assuage his estrangement from contemporary life? No—he enlists in the French Foreign Legion. This account of his physical and spiritual journey to a new life, filled with deep reflections, will hold meaning for every person who senses there's something a little wrong with our lives today. Join his voyage of self-discovery to insight and wisdom about people, about cultures, and about our age.”

—Jeffrey Race, author of the military classic War Comes to Long An

“A Millennial Bildungsroman of striking energy, originality, erudition, and wit. Whether describing his forced marches through the French countryside or his conversations with friends, Nicholas is always reflecting on what this all means for his life, for his generation, and for what the French would call la culture et civilisation that belongs to all of us.”

—Neil Howe, co-author of the bestselling phenomenon The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy; author of The Fourth Turning Is Here

“This is an exceptional memoir of an extraordinary young life. Nicholas’ journey in pursuit of service is compelling, inspiring and enlightening.”

—Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, former White House national security advisor and author of the New York Times bestseller Battlegrounds