Flashman and the Angel of the Lord

Arrant coward and unrepentant womanizer Harry Flashman, in the seven books of his 'memoirs' that I've read so far, expresses sincere respect (and even that respect is edged with cynicism) for only two of the many "great" men he's encountered: Abraham Lincoln and... John Brown! Considering Flashman's unapologetic racism, that's an unexpected observation. Here's what he says in the early pages of the Angel of the Lord: "Aye, if there's a company of saints up yonder, they'll be dressing by the right on J.B., for when the Recording Angel has racked up all his crimes and lies and thefts and follies and deceits and cold-blooded killings, he'll still be saved when better men are damned. Why? Cos if he wasn't, there'd be such an almighty roar of indiganation from the Heavenly Host it would bust the firmament; God would never live it down. That's the beauty of a martyr's crown, you see; it outshines everything, and they don't come any brighter than old J.B.'s." Even more meaningfully than Flashman's words, which are always to be doubted, is Flashman's self-reported action. At the most critical moment of the battle at Harper's Ferry, Flashman claims to have saved Brown's life, and thus "launched him on the path to immortal glory." And... Flashman's creator, George MacDonald Fraser, takes the unprecedented step of writing an appendix in his own authorial voice, saying of John Brown that "He is part of history and historic legend, and if what he tried to do was not heroic, then the word has no meaning." Wow! From Flash and Fraser, that's a testimonial. After being disappointed by the historical flim-flam of Flashman and the Redskins, and somewhat bored by the disjointed and repetitive narrative of that book, I had not intended to read another of the series for the foreseeable future. The clear recrudescence of North-South animosity during the 2008 presidential campaign, however, got me thinking about John Brown again. I read an amazingly fine biography -- John Brown, Abolitionist, by David S. Reynolds -- and then found myself unable to resist reading this fictional account of Harper's Ferry, just to see what a curmudgeonly Brit would make of it. As usual, Fraser's fictional history is full of mind-torquing wing-nuts of solid fact, and also of utter nonsense. The central nonsense is the invention of a master spy-ring of secession-seeking Southerners, the Kuclos, obvious prototypes for the post-war Ku Klux Klan. They're as improbable as any James Bond fantasy, but just as much fun. Their antagonists on the abolitionist side - the tightly organized (and utterly non-existent) leadership of the Underground Railroad, and the beginnings of the Pinkertons - are delightfully droll. In fact, the villains in this fairly long novel are largely there for comic relief. Flashman's "amorous" adventures in this novel are of a strange pattern, also. In three ludicrous encounters, Flashman displays his 'prowess' to his own immense satisfaction, only to discover that the

Wonderful story as usual. A 19th Century Forest Gump (a little brighter but more cowardly and more lecherous) finds himself at the center of history's most important events hobnobbing with the memorable charcters and real life men of greatness. Don't miss it!

Flashman and the Angel of the Lord was my introduction to writer George Fraiser and "his" character, Harry Flashman. I was impressed and pleased. Impressed with Frasier's scholarship (the fictional Flashman's interactions with real historic persons and events is accurate, as his extensive endnotes demonstrate). Pleased with the irreverant, wholly unconventional and most certainly un-PC character of Harry Flashman. In the Angel of the Lord, Flashman - a scandalous character "resurrected" from the 19th century novel Tom Brown's Schooldays and a self-described "bully, poltroon, cad, turncoat, lecher and toady" - finds himself aiding John Brown in his raid at Harper's Ferry. Conspiracies abound with several factions enlisting the "assistance" of Flashman to either foil the attempt or help pull it off. The misadventures of Harry Flashman as he navigates the intrigue and double-dealing combined with the Fraiser's rapier-like wit and irreverant style had me riveted to the story line while laughing out loud. I will certainly read the remainder of the "Flashman Chronicles" and I recommend this one highly.

This is the third Flashman book I've read, Flashman and Royal Flash being the other two. After being disappointed with Royal Flash, I was overjoyed with this book, in which Mr. Fraser has reproduced the brilliance he showed in Flashman. The dialogue is wonderful, the plot tight and unpredictable, and the action breathtaking. The only blemish was the sloppy last few pages, which seems to have been slapped on with a deadline fast approaching. That's a small flaw in this gem though. Read it!

This is not the first Flashman book to deal with a setting in America or the issues of slavery and the ante-bellum South. In fact, it's the third. Flash for Freedom and Flashman and the Redskins both touch on the subject. And if Mr. Fraser lives long enough, there are at least two others he has hinted at which will cover other aspects of the periods 1850-53 and 1861-65. However, its highly doubtful that the ingenious Mr. Fraser will live long enough (he's in his 70's) to "edit" the much awaited Civil War volume. Therefore, we Flashmaniacs must likely content ourselves with this fine, but hopefully not final, chapter. The novel brings back several old characters from Flash for Freedom, including the delightfully decadent Mrs. Mandeville. It is much much tighter in its focus than any of its predecessors, covering just a few months in 1859. However it is also more practiced in its character development and insights into the period. While this tenth Flashman novel (eleventh if you count the bland Mr. American) may only be for true afficionados, I think it's one of the best. So while Flashy developed some moral fiber in Mountain of Light, in Angel he shows some introspection. Once you read one, you'll read them all anyway, so this review is entirely unnecessary.