Flashman's Christmas

This short story was included in the longer novel Flashman's Winter, so do not buy this book if you already have that one.

Flashman's Christmas is an introduction to the character of Thomas Flashman, uncle to Harry Flashman, who was made famous by Thomas Hughes and George MacDonald Fraser.

Thomas’ exploits begin in 1800 and finish in 1838 in a series of eleven novels. They include extraordinary adventures in Europe, North and South America, Africa and India, and are closely based on historical fact and contemporary sources.

Like his nephew, he has the uncanny knack of finding himself in the hotspots of his time, often while endeavouring to avoid them. Thomas, though, is not exactly the same character as Harry Flashman, which is partly accidental and partly deliberate. It reflects the different times the two fictional characters occupy. While Harry Flashman in India thrashed and abused the natives, in Thomas’ time many British were in business with Indian partners or had Indian wives. The British Resident of Delhi went so far as to marry a harem of thirteen Indian women, who used to parade around the city every evening on elephants!

This novella is set in Paris a few months after the battle of Waterloo as the royalists try to re-establish control over a country that had recently rejected them. It reunites Thomas with old friends and enemies as he is involved in a notorious escape from the death cell of a Paris prison on the eve of execution.