Suspicion falls on the band of young people, and Beau leaves England to join the French Foreign Legion in Algeria, followed by his brothers, Digby (his twin) and John.

The commander at Fort Zinderneuf (after the death of two more senior officers) is the sadistic Sergeant Major Lejaune, who drives his abused subordinates to the verge of mutiny.

In Beau Ideal and other sequels P. C. Wren ties loose strings together, including recording that Michael Geste's original reasons for joining the Foreign Legion were not only honour but also his doomed and impossible love for Claudia.

The French officer of Spahis Major de Beaujolais, who commands the relief column at Fort Zinderneuf, is the narrator of Wren's subsequent novel Beau Sabreur.

In French, the phrase includes the suggestion of a fine gesture with unwelcome or futile consequences,[1] and an allusion to the chanson de geste, a literary poem celebrating the legendary deeds of a hero.

Life in the Foreign Legion is also represented in some, but not all, of Wren's subsequent novels: Port O'Missing Men, Soldiers of Misfortune, Valiant Dust, Dead Men's Boots, Flawed Blades (which includes also two short tales of the Geste brothers in the Legion pre-Zinderneuf), The Wages of Virtue, Stepsons of France, and The Uniform of Glory.

The production featured Laurence Olivier in the lead role and fellow actors included Madeleine Carroll and Jack Hawkins.