The adventures of Harry Flashman, mostly by George MacDonald Fraser.

George MacDonald Fraser, "Mr American"

2014-01-11 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 110 words

Not really a Flashman novel, but it does feature Harry Flashman as a major character, and uses the same technique of conveying the feel of a historically-interesting context — in this case, England just before the outbreak of the First World War — through the exploits of an only-just-fictional character. And Mark Franklin is definitely not Flashman, which makes a refreshing change.

I do miss the footnotes, though! Their lack makes it less obvious which details are fictional and which aren't — although that did give me an excuse to go away and read about the events it's talking about in more detail, and perhaps that was the intent. Highly recommended.

George MacDonald Fraser, "Flashman on the March"

2013-12-07 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 13 words

The final Flashman book, set in Abyssinia. Lots of historical detail.

George MacDonald Fraser, "Flashman and the Tiger"

2013-12-01 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 21 words

A novella and two short stories. The middle one's the best; the third (a Sherlock Holmes crossover) is amusing.

George MacDonald Fraser, "Flashman and the Angel of the Lord"

2013-11-24 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 10 words

The Harper's Ferry Raid. Splendid amounts of lampshading.

George MacDonald Fraser, "Flashman and the Redskins"

2013-11-17 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 66 words

Another advantage of this series' grand plan is that it's not tied to places the British Army were involved -- so this time we're with the Apaches in the US.

I was expecting something along the lines of the revelation in the second part but not what actually happened... and it's a bit surprising this is the first time it's come up in the series!

George MacDonald Fraser, "Flashman and the Dragon"

2013-11-13 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 40 words

A bit of Chinese history I knew nothing about.

I've been wondering if there would be a better way to present the historical notes in this series -- some of them are getting very long and detailed by now!

George MacDonald Fraser, "Flashman in the Great Game"

2013-11-10 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 38 words

The Sepoy Mutiny. Not a pleasant read but does an excellent job of conveying what it must have been like. Some impressive plot gymnastics are required to get Flashman to all the relevant places on time.

George MacDonald Fraser, "Flashman and the Mountain of Light"

2013-11-04 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 2 words

George MacDonald Fraser, "Flashman's Lady"

2013-10-31 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 13 words

Introduces bits of Elspeth's diary as a conceit, which works nicely.

George MacDonald Fraser, "Flash for Freedom!"

2013-10-28 · in Books, The Flashman Papers · 15 words

Flashman gets shanghaied into the slave trade -- and then into the anti-slavery movement.

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