In 1903, he joined the Indian Education Service as headmaster of Karachi High School. Wren worked as a boarding school teacher for a few years, during which he married Alice Shovelier, and had a daughter (Estelle, born 1901). Wren subsequently claimed to have worked as a navvy, deckhand, costermonger and fairground boxer during a three-year period between school and Oxford, as well as enlisting briefly as a cavalry trooper in the Queen's Bays (2nd Dragoon Guards). He graduated with a Master of Arts degree from St Catherine's Society, now St Catherine's College, Oxford but then a non-collegiate institution for poorer students. His literary influences included Frederick Marryat, R. Percival Christopher Wren was born in Deptford, South London, England, the son of a schoolmaster. This was one of 33 novels and short story collections that he wrote, mostly dealing with colonial soldiering in Africa. He is remembered best for Beau Geste, a much-filmed book of 1924, involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. Percival Christopher Wren (1 November 1875 – 22 November 1941) was an English writer, mostly of adventure fiction. Percival Rupert Christopher Wren (1904–).What I realise is that the unabridged version is probably completely unsuitable for today’s teen, being full (probably) of bad language, death and stereotypical foreigners. So that may be why my books have an old-fashioned feel.
When I judge what an early teen might read I think of this sort of adventure.
If you can find a condensed version (mine is a Green Dragon book dated 1966), get it. I think it’s a rip-roaring story, cleverly told (although I think the abridging may have done it a lot of favours, again based on other reviews).
It probably sits well against Patrick O’Brian adventures. It’s a harrowing story which makes you wonder how people can survive in the desert, let alone under the conditions of the Legion as depicted in the early 1900s.
(Some reviewers seem to have completely misunderstood why Beau joined up). Heroes setting off into the French Foreign Legion because once upon a time a friend of their aunt had told them stories about it, and besides, what is a noble young man to do if he has just helped his aunt out of an awful mess? Illegally. (It was originally published in 1924)īeau Geste is the sort of book boys of my era loved. This was particularly instructive for me, since I was looking at guidelines for books for 12-15 year olds on a readers website, and thought, well, this wouldn’t pass. What I also found is that I have an abridged version for 12-15 year-olds. I remember a rip-roaring tale of derring-do, and that is exactly what I found – again. I decided to re-read my copy of Beau Geste on a hot sultry day in July.
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