The Geste Novels Part A: Beau Geste, Beau Sabreur (The Collected Novels of P. C. Wren)

made into a dozen movies but this is the origin

Beau Geste is the best!

Of this trilogy I have only read Beau Geste and that was over 60 years ago. But (and the recent TV series bears this out) what remains is a thrilling introduction to the French Foreign Legion in its most romantic phase; the harshness of the desert life of North Africa endured by the soldiers; and above all, the brotherly love and loyalty demonstrated by the three Geste brothers. Of course the story is fiction, but it is the kind of fiction that resonates with a reader - even the 10-12 year olds to whom it was addressed: like all true literature, even of a popular kind, it teaches about tragedy, loss and redemption through suffering. Buy a copy for your sons (and feisty daughters) before they have become trapped by screens.