Flashman and the Tiger
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4.1 • 14 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
It’s 1868 and Sir Harry Flashman, V.C., arch-cad, amorist, cold-headed soldier, and reluctant hero, is back! Fleeing a chain of vengeful pursuers that includes Mexican bandits, the French Foreign Legion, and the relatives of an infatuated Austrian beauty, Flashy is desperate for somewhere to take cover. So desperate, in fact, that he embarks on a perilous secret intelligence-gathering mission to help free a group of Britons being held captive by a tyrannical Abyssinian king. Along the way, of course, are nightmare castles, brigands, massacres, rebellions, orgies, and the loveliest and most lethal women in Africa, all of which will test the limits of the great bounder’s talents for knavery, amorous intrigue, and survival.
Flashman on the March—the twelfth book in George MacDonald Fraser’s ever-beloved, always scandalous Flashman Papers series--is Flashman and Fraser at their best.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
P.G. Wodehouse said of the first Flashman novel that it was "the goods." Three decades and 11 "packets" of Flashman papers later, Fraser's indomitable Victorian scoundrel remains one of English literature's finest comic creations. This latest installment consists of three short adventures, all taking place in the late 19th century. In the first and longest episode, Flashy attends the Congress of Berlin, crosses paths with his old enemy Bismarck and gets dragged into a complicated plot to save Austria's Emperor Franz-Josef from assassination and Europe from world war. Not all the diplomatic intrigue is scintillating, but Fraser concludes on a strong note, sending Flashy off on yet another doomed military expedition just as he thinks he's home safe at last. Comic reversal figures as well in the second story, centered on a card-cheating scandal involving the prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. The hilarious exchange at the end between Flashman and his dizzy wife, Elspeth, is reminiscent of Bertie and Jeeves in their prime. In the final, title tale, Flashy, disguised as a poor drunk, sneaks into an empty London house to stop a certain Tiger Jack Moran from his evil plot to ravish Flashy's beloved granddaughter, only to find that two men, who look like "a poet and a bailiff," have ambushed the creep already. The deed done, Flashman listens as the "poet" makes some deliciously inaccurate deductions about the scruffy, drunk derelict, our hero. Throughout, Flashman alludes to disastrous exploits not yet published (Gordon at Khartoum, Maxmillian in Mexico, etc.). Readers can only hope that Fraser will enjoy the kind of longevity and productivity that defined the distinguished career of his mentor Wodehouse, and continue with this exceptional series. FYI: Fraser has written the screenplays for Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, as well as for the James Bond film Octopussy.
Customer Reviews
A departure from the Flashma's traditin of true history, but still fun
The Flashman papers are simply the best historical fiction ever written (yes, even better than O'brian or Michner). You will never have more fun while learning so much lost history. If there is any flaw to the Flashman papers, is that they are so good you forget that it is fiction. Everything I ever learned about human nature I learned from Flashman's brutal and unbiased observation of his fellow man (and woman... and a lot of those). This collection of three short stories, stands apart from the other Flashman papers in that although drippin in history, it borrows too heavily from pure fiction. The appearance Sherlock Holmes (and several other blatantly fictional characters) somewhat spoils the feel of the stories. While this book falls short of the other Flashman papers, but it is still worth a read (or even a reread).