Flashman on the March

Flashman On The March is by no means the best book of the series, but Fraser is in his 80s, doesn't need the money, and we must be grateful for any new Flashman material at all. It is better than his previous, Flashman & The Tiger, a collection of three shorter stories, was. In this case, Flashman finds himself once again in trouble over a woman, and consequently exposed to what appear to be convenient plans to get him out of town when offered by his friend Speedicut; and of course thus unwittingly puts his head into yet another noose, this time finding himself on the expedition to Magdala in what became the Abyssinian War. Fraser's absolutely meticulous research, as usual, brings what is to us a very remote and little known campaign to technicolor life. Fraser's notes and commentary refer to all the primary sources then extant, newspapers and magazines of the time, official publications, memoirs, and the like, transforming his work from standard historical fiction into something a good deal better, more reliable, and instructive. Combine this with Fraser's excellent characterizations, his pitch-perfect dialogue, his ironic, sarcastic, and often bawdy humor, and you have what is simply the best such series in print. Every novel has been an absolute joy to read and reread over the years. The story and the events make for great reading and do not need to be reviewed here; every Flashman reader knows what he will get, and that he will love it. (In that sense, Fraser is every bit as dependable as Ian Fleming was; give the public what it wants.) More interesting to me is Fraser's long-standing political incorrectness, and I am not talking about his use of 'the n-word' (which can be rationalized on grounds of historical accuracy in speech) or the jumping of every woman in the book (which is fact is completely PC), which is what the NY Times seems to think makes this stuff racy, but rather of his observations of actual conditions and actual events around the world. Fraser pulls no punches, and never has, in describing in cold hard brutal documented facts the almost unbelievable cruelty, the shocking crimes, and bestial behavior, of homicidal maniacs masquerading as kings, chieftains, advisors to the great, and so on, throughout the Victorian world, and while the British are far from faultless (see destruction of the Summer Palace after the Chinese expedition) there is a clear contrast between the civilized and the uncivilized, and both Flashman and Fraser (in his notes) leave us with no doubt as to which they prefer. The concept of the 'noble savage' is one with which Fraser deals again and again - perhaps best at the beginning of Flashman & The Redskins, which finds Flashy dealing with Political Correctness of the time at a London Club, but throughout most of the other books as well - and which he demolishes simply through accumulation of documented evidence. In 2006, however, as it was in 1969 when Fraser first began this epic romp

G. MacDonald Frasier has done it again. This is a terrific piece by THE master of historical fiction. Once more Flashy is at his randy best as he is thrust into one of the maddest actions of the nineteenth century. If you are not familiar with the Flashman Chronicles this will be a poor novel to begin with. It relies heavily on knowledge of the other tales. If you are an old fan this is more of the marvellous same.

Whatever you may think or feel when you read this latest release of The Flashman Papers, you will know that you are reading history. George MacDonald Fraser is an authentic military historian. Flip through the pages of The Steel Bonnets for proof. If all you learn about the Crimean War, the Schleswig-Holstein Affair, The Indian Mutiny, or the Opium Wars is what you've seen through the eyes of history's most self-effacing hero, then you are still very well informed. In Flashman on the March, Sir Harry, now fortyish, turns the tide in Sir Robert Napier's march on Magdala, in what is grandiosly known as The Abyssinian War of 1868. Though less well known as are the above-mentioned events, it stands as a stunning achievement in British colonial power. Sir Robert (Bughunter Bob, Flashy calls him) is dispatched to free some British captives held by a maniacal Abysinnian tyrant, King Theodore. Even those of us who are ardent students of The Flashman Papers must admit that the Flashman formula has now become, well, formulaic. But Frasier may rest assured that those of us who love his admirable protagonist would not have him change that formula one iota. You cannot be disappointed with this grand adventure at the upper reaches of the Blue Nile, in the mountainous jungle of what we now know as Ethiopia. Let me use Flashman's own words of reflection, "...I thought of that hellish beautiful land and its hellish beautiful people, of Yando's cage and the horrors of Gondar, of bandit treasure aswarm with scorpions, of the terrifying thunder of decent into a watery maelstrom, of a raving lunatic slaughtering helpless captives, of fighting women drunk on massacre, of a graceful she-devil aglow with love, and ice cold in hate..." In my view this book stands with the very best of the Flashman Papers. Sir Harry leaves no value unscorned, and he keeps us smiling throughout. Oh, and don't wait for it to come out in audio, or video; as usual, there's too much uncomfortable truth embedded in the fiction.

I confess I simply ordered this book when I saw its availability, having read everything Flashy written to date. It wasn't the to-be-hoped-for advent of Flashy at Gettysburg, but I have never been disappointed with a Flashman novel, and I still am not. I also had to look up the Abyssianian campaign, and mad king Theodore, to make sure it really happened - and of course it did! A little bit of research, and I was ready to delve in. I couldn't put it down. For those of you lucky enough to read this novel first in the series, immediately backtrack and start from the beginning with the other Flashman novels. There's not a more lovable ne'er-do-well poltroon in modern fiction. Fraser strikes again - thank heavens!

The Flashman series is one of the unalloyed treasures of reading: hysterically funny, immensely informative, unfailingly entertaining, and even, at times, moving. These adventures of the 19th Century's greatest poltroon never fail to amuse-- and I've read them all many times. This new volume is a treat (though not in my top 6), and deserves your attention. THAT SAID: don't start here. If you haven't read, at the very least, the first volume ("Flashman"), you'll be doing yourself a disservice. These should be read, and savored, either chronologically (in terms of Flashy's life and crimes) or in order of publication, as you prefer. Your appreciation of the character will be enriched by the proper introduction, and you'll get more out of this and all the others. Enjoy!