Product Description

Flash Harry, celebrated Victorian bounder, amorist and poltroon extraordinaire is back in this, the long-awaited twelfth installment of the critically acclaimed Flashman Papers. Many have marvelled at General Napier's daring 1868 expedition through the treacherous peaks and bottomless chasms of Abyssinia to rescue a small group of British citizens held captive by the mad tyrant Emperor Theodore. But the vital role of Sir Harry Flashman, V.C., in the success of this campaign has hitherto gone unrecorded. A master of lechery, treachery and poltroonery, Flashy's undeserved reputation for heroism renders him the British Army's candidate of choice when it comes to skulking behind enemy lines in Ali Baba attire. After all, who but the great amorist could contemplate navigating a land populated by hostile tribes and the lovliest (and most savage) women in Africa, from leather-clad nymphs with a penchant for torture to de-ballocking Amazons and a voluptuous barbarian queen with a reputation for throwing disobliging guests to her pet lions?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75230 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-04
• Released on: 2007-11-19
• Formats: Abridged, Audiobook, CD
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 5
• Binding: Audio CD
• 304 pages

Barry Forshaw
There are certain authors whose very names are an absolute guarantee of quality, and George Macdonald Fraser has long been one of those. His Flashman books are much loved, and the exploits of his engaging rogue have been delighted readers for years. But is Flashman on the March up to the customary Fraser standard? After all, the number of Flashman books is now legion, and even the author’s most dedicated admirers would admit that some Flashman outings (while diverting enough) have lacked the freshness of the early books. It's good to report, therefore, that Flashman on the March is almost vintage Fraser, with all the elements that have won him an ironclad following largely in place. There are, of course, two elements that make these books such fun: the vivid and pungent historical detail (always effortlessly integrated, and never self-consciously laid on as in so many historical novels, serious or otherwise); the author's refusal to be politically correct (the Flashman books have always played fast and loose with the accepted views of morality and society, and their bawdy, amoral charms are refreshing in an age in which such things are looked at askance -- even if Fraser, like Frederick Forsyth, is far better encountered in his entertaining books rather than in his more splenetic role as pundit).

Here, that least heroic possessor of a Victoria Cross, Sir Harry Flashman, finds himself catapulted into a highly dangerous assignment in Abyssinia: he is to rescue British prisoners from a demented emperor. Abyssinia (as seen through Fraser's highly colourful imagination) is a land of lethal seductresses, terrifying warriors and a jawdropping female monarch whose idea of what she should feed her lions is… unorthodox. It's up to Flashman (as so often before) to triumph over insuperable odds by the most unlikely methods. Needless to say, untrammelled sexual activity is firmly on the menu. If you're a George Macdonald Fraser fan, or a Flashman fan, what are you waiting for? --Barry Forshaw

Review
'There is a little of Flashman in all of us -- but not enough.' Evening Standard 'The Flashman Papers do what all great sagas do -- winning new admirers along the way but never, ever betraying old ones. It is an immense achievement.' Sunday Telegraph 'In our crass, humourless, anaemic, politically correct age, there could be no better tonic or treat than the outrageous Flashy's bold descriptions of action in battle or bedroom. To relish George MacDonald Fraser is to rediscover the joy of reading.' Daily Telegraph 'Everything we expect from a Flashman adventure is here: lechery, double-crossing, real people, the epic poltroonery from which Flashman emerges as saviour of the hour!my one complaint about the series -- surely the great mock-historical romp of the past half-century -- is that MacDonald Fraser does not add to it often enough.' Mail on Sunday' 'Ardent fans...will delight in flashman on the march...Toby Stephens is brilliant as the cowardly villain we all love - the sneer, the drawl, the funk - all captured to perfection.' 'Toby Stephens manages to capture perfectly the range of characters that populate this extraordinary adventure' Guardian

About the Author
The author of the famous Flashman Papers and the Private McAuslan stories, George MacDonald Fraser has worked on newspapers in Britain and Canada. In addition to his novels he has also written numerous screenplays, most notably The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, and the James Bond film, Octopussy.

Customer Reviews

Even an average Flashman destroys the competition
Flashy has been around for nearly 40 years now, but with only a dozen packets of his memoirs released, new Flashman's are few and far between and as such there's immense excitement whenever Mr Fraser releases a new book.

While its fair to say that "Flashman on the March" is not up to the standard of some of the previous episodes, a book that only rates "average" in comparision to, say "Flash for Freedom" or "Flashman in the Great Game" still wipes away the competition. It follows directly on from Flashmans (still unwritten) Mexican & US Civil War misadventures. To escape (among others) Mexican revolutionaries & the French Foreign Legion Gendamerie Flashman passes himself off as the executed emperor Maximillian's best friend and escapes the America's on an Austrian warship. Unfortuanately there's a 16 year old Austrian princess on board whom Flashy "educates" prior to her wedding. This requires an even faster escape from Trieste pursued by the Austrian authorities.

"Escape" this time comes in the form of Rugby companion Speedicut who entrusts Flash with £500,000 in silver to fund General Napier's invasion of Abysinia. Napier, not believing his luck sends the "heroic" Flashy in disguise on a suicide mission into the heart of Africa with the predictable amount of genocidal African kings and equally murderous (but volumptious) women after him. What follows is typical Flashman.

As we've come to expect from George MacDonald Fraser, the historical research is second to none. What lets this books down is the obscurity of the Abysinia campaign of 1867, which was little more than a quick skirmish resulting in a handful of British casualties. Whereas the Crimean war featured in "Flashman at the charge" allowed Flashman to fight among the thin red line, the charge of the heavy brigade AND the charge of the light brigade all in one day, this particular campaign lacks these opportunities. The real strength of Flashman is his almost "Forest Gump" like ability to plausibly change the course of history. History has ignored the fate of the British in Abysinia.

This is vastly superior to the previous chapter in Flashman's memoirs (Flashman & the Tiger), however I'm still hopeful that two of his oft-refered to unwritten memoirs will be published soon, namely the full account of his civil war memoirs and a more detailed account of his actions in the Zulu wars. Both have far more potential than some of the recent releases.

Flashman in Abyssinia
The latest adventurer in the fascinating career of Victorian "hero", blackguard, and all-round character Sir Harry Flashman takes him into one of the lesser-known by-ways of empire, a British military expedition into Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). Were it not for the fact that is in the history books, this expedition with its highly-professional British general, its mad Abyssinian emperor, and its brilliant success would all be a but far-fetched - and that's before the Flashman adventure comes in.

Sir Harry is on good form - getting dragooned into taking part when all he wants to do is get home and enjoy his money, position, and his wife Elspeth; having the usual encounters with exotic and lusty women and exotic and dangerous men; almost getting killed; doing his craven and unsuccessful best to avoid risk to himself; and coming out on top with his spurious reputation further enhanced.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for George McDonald Fraser. The author seems to be getting tired, and we have quite long passages where very little happens and what does is not very interesting. One can only wish that rather than dealing with this episode the author had given us something of the long-awaited (and loudly-demanded by the fans) account of Flashman's "service" (on both sides) in the American Civil War. We get a teaser here with a little back story of what he got up to in its aftermath but how long must we wait for the real thing?

Still it's a Flashman, and not really the worst, so three-and-a-half stars are in order.

It is still flashman
After reading all the flashman series long before its current episode, I still thrive on the story telling George MacDonald Fraser is able to provide.

Even though this book does not rate in the top 5 of flashman novels, it does bring back the affable cad that we all know and love.

It never ceases to amaze me, the wars and scuffles the British were in within such a short period of History, and that the staggering amount of resources (namely money) that was spent to maintain the empire.

Where as I do not class this book as a 5, any reader of the flashman adventures, will want to read the new episode of his life (with references to future installments).

Keep writing George, it is appreciated.