What with all the material provided by Dell, any comments I might make are almost superfluous. I'll add a couple of things, though. John D. Newsom, who also wrote as J. D. Newsom, was really good. He appears to have specialized in writing Foreign Legion stories for the pulps, and he had the experience for it. Here's a bit from his obit in the New York Times: "Mr. Newsom was born in Shanghai of American descent. He was reared in France and attended Cambridge University, England. For a time he was an anthropologist in Melanesia and later he lived in Morocco. He served as a captain in the British Army in France in World War I and as a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy in World War II. In the Navy he served in the Pacific and as a liaison officer with our armies In Northern Africa and Southern France."
I don't know if he wrote anything after the 1930s, but if he didn't it's a shame. These stories are all colorful and exciting, especially the battle scenes, at which Newsom excelled. I'm tempted to buy one of his novels to see if it's as good as the short stories. Highly recommended.
4 comments:
This is right up my alley. I wonder if I have it.
I loved stories of the Foreign Legion as a kid. I'll have to track this down.
I loved the way Dell Mapbacks presented their front matter, especially when they gave you the list of characters and who they were. A map or building drawing helped too.
Dell often did interesting and useful things.
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