The Centurions

The Centurions (French title: Les Centurions) is a novel written by French journalist and former soldier Jean Lartéguy following a French airborne battalion through the First Indochina War, Algerian War, and Suez Crisis. It was published in 1960 and translated from the original French into English by Xan Fielding. The novel included the first use of the so-called "ticking time bomb" scenario. It won the 1960 Prix Ève Delacroix. In 1966, The Centurions was adapted into a motion picture, Lost Command, that starred Anthony Quinn.