Michael "Beau" Geste is the protagonist. The main narrator (among others) is his younger brother John. The three Geste brothers are a metaphor for the British upper class values of a time gone by, and "the decent thing to do" is the leitmotif of the trilogy. The Geste brothers are orphans and have been brought up by their aunt at Brandon Abbas. The rest of Beau's band are mainly Isobel, Claudia and Augustus. When a precious jewel known as the "Blue Water" goes missing, Beau leaves Britain to join the French Foreign Legion, followed by his brothers, Digby (his twin) and John. Beau Sabreur and Beau Ideal are sequel novels and Good Gestes is a collection of short tales mainly about the Geste brothers and their American friends Hank and Buddy.
Percival Christopher Wren (1875-1941) was an English writer, mostly of adventure fiction. He is remembered best for Beau Geste, a much-filmed book of 1924, involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. This was one of 33 novels and short story collections that he wrote, mostly dealing with colonial soldiering in Africa. While his fictional accounts of life in the pre-1914 Foreign Legion are highly romanticized, his details of Legion uniforms, training, equipment and barrack room layout are generally accurate, which has led to unproven suggestions that Wren himself served with the legion.
