Flashman on the March

George Macdonald Fraser
�7.99

The Flashman Papers XII. Who better to undertake a perilous mission into deepest Abyssinia to rescue Britons held hostage by a mad emperor than the ever reluctant Sir Harry Flashman, V.C.?

Published by :	HarperCollins
Published Date :	2005
Pages :	317
Format :	Paperback.
Illustrations :
ISBN :	0007197403

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Review

'One hundred years ago boys thrilled to the adventures of the heroes who built the British Empire. Theirs were deeds of derring-do when young men of courage and virtue fought for Queen and country. They brought civilization and the British way of life to natives sunk in the depths of dark barbarity.
Despite their obvious superiority they nevertheless maintained a respect for the nobility of the child-like savage.
Harry Paget Flashman despite being a brigadier-general and sporting a V.C., a K.C.B. and a K.C.I.E. is not quite of that ilk.
George MacDonald Fraser has already edited eleven packets of the Flashman autobiographical papers. Flashman on the March is the twelfth packet. As always, Fraser has been a deftly light-handed editor, merely correcting the spellings and letting Flashman tell his own story.
And a superb story it is, with all the thrills and spills, spears and guns and wily natives, desperate escapades and hair-breadth escapes that any boy could wish for, and quite a lot more besides.
Flashman needs to make a rapid exit in Trieste. The ever responsive Harry has been taking the pre-nuptial education of a buxom bride-to-be a little too seriously. To make good his escape he agrees to escort a shipment of bullion to General Napier and his men in Abyssinia who are preparing to relieve several British soldiers being held prisoner by the mad and bad King Theodore.
Before he knows what is happening he finds himself engaged on a secret mission to penetrate the African interior disguised as an Indian merchant. Flashman looks the part and his Arabic is more than adequate. His companion in arms is to be an Abyssinian princess.
She adds spice to the adventure and proves an invaluable companion. Flashman himself is ever resourceful in the face of danger and equally inventive in the search for pleasure. He is a man of immense stamina and in his Abyssinian princess he has met his equal. Their journey across country to Lake Tana and the immense waterfalls of the Blue Nile is fraught with danger and the succeeding enmities, treacheries and tribal hostilities tax all of Flashman�s military and diplomatic skills.
As with the other Flashman novels this is a tour de force by an author who is a master of his game. Flashman himself, a Victorian cad born from the bully in Tom Brown�s Schooldays, is a brilliant creation, a contemporary, cynical take on things and manners Victorian.
The story is told with verve and élan. Action is brilliantly portrayed and incident succeeds incident with entertaining variety and pace.
The Sunday Times described the novel as �a full-blooded charge, fortified by the usual lashings of salty sex, meticulously choreographed battle scenes and hilariously spineless acts of self preservation �. Just what one would expect from a Flashman novel.
What was unexpected and a real pleasure was the historical accuracy. Setting and landscape are beautifully evoked � there are wonderful descriptions of the lake and the Abyssinian Highlands � and throughout there is a sense that the novel has been meticulously researched � weapons, historical individuals, regimental details, all the paraphernalia of empire are woven into the story in such a way as to give a very distinct sense of time and place.
George MacDonald Fraser�s Flashman is a unique creation. It would be a pity if Flashman was seen as just an adventure story for, admittedly, big boys.' - Steve Matthews, Bookcase.
'As bawdy, offensive and unrepentantly entertaining as always' - Observer.
'Not so much a march as a full-blooded charge, fortified by the usual lashings of salty sex, meticulously choreographed battle scenes and hilariously spineless acts of self-preservation by the eponymous bounder' - Sunday Times.

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