The Marines - History of an American Myth

This work allows the reader to discover the rich history of an elite corps that has become inescapable yet remains almost entirely unknown. Indeed, no one in France is familiar with its first hundred and fifty years before 1918 and the Battle of Belleau Wood; no one knows that it was initially scorned, mocked for its mediocre performance, cut back, threatened with dissolution before becoming an elite corps, a myth, and the only military unit whose existence is guaranteed by a law passed in 1952. In the course of his research, the author discovered that the legend of the Marines had preceded their military excellence.

To avoid disappearing, they invented modern lobbying, infiltrating political parties, recruiting civilian communications officers, idealising their history to make themselves indispensable. The legend was thus fabricated by a handful of commanding officers (Henderson, Lejeune), built around values chosen to take root at the very heart of American culture: the Christian myth, the frontier myth, the pioneer myth — before being so thoroughly assimilated by the Marines themselves that they were compelled to live up to their… fantasised predecessors.

This legend then permeated popular culture, becoming the sanctuary of the American spirit. This is how an elite corps is invented. Beyond the account of the fighting, Nicolas Aubin draws on sociology, ethnology, cultural history, political history, the history of mentalities and even organisational sociology, all combining to make for a compelling read and an innovative work.