The Flashman Papers by G M Fraser
Created | Updated May 4, 2007
Work In Progress
The greatest hero the British Empire never had, Brigadier-General Sir Harry Paget Flashman, V.C.1, K.C.B.2, K.C.I.E3 (1822-1915) is a character who originally appeared in the book Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes. Named in the book simply as 'Flashman'4 he bullied the eponymous hero and after being expelled for drunkenness was never heard from again... that is until 1969 when George MacDonald Fraser published the first in a set of memoirs which it is claimed he had aquired in a Leicestershire sale room in 1965.
The Man
Harry Flashman was born on the 5 May, 1822... Flashman is a womaniser and a cad, indeed he claims to have bedded 478 women - of whom a mere 44 are mentioned in his memoirs - during his lifetime.
The Myth
Of course none of this ever actually happened, Flashman is an entirely fictional person. It is possible that there really was a Flashman who served his country during the reign of Victoria (after all, there was a Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe who saw action during the Napoleonic Wars) but his story is not the subject of this Entry.
Interestingly, when the first novel was published in the US, ten out of 36 reviewers thought it was a genuine historial memoir.
The Books
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
Flashman (1839-42)
"It was several weeks before the appropriate orders came through, by then I'd grabbed fortune by the foreskin , so to speak..."
After marrying Elspeth Flashman is sent to India where he becomes involved in the First Afghan War and, despite his cowardace5, becomes the hero of the retreat from Kabul and the seige of Jellallabad.
Royal Flash (1843, 1847-8)
"I had been bloody near killed more times than I could count, cut, wounded and half drowned, scared out of my wits... suddenly I felt full of spite and anger towards them!"
Loosely based upon The Prisoner of Zenda6, though in the context of the fiction ...Zenda was supposedly based on Flashy's exploits, this book sees Flashman become involved in a dastardly plot by Otto von Bismarck to subvert the German monarchy to his own ends...
Flash for Freedom!
Flashman at the Charge
Captured after charging the cannons with the Light Brigade at Balaclava, Flashman is imprisoned in Russia where he hears of a dastardly plot to weaken the British position in India.
Flashman in the Great Game
Having been sent to India following rumours that Ignatieff has been seen spreading dissent among the sepoys7, Flashman becomes inexorably tangled up in assassination plots and the infamous Indian Mutiny.
Flashman's Lady
Flashman and the Redskins
Flashman and the Dragon
Flashman and the Mountain of Light
Koh-I-NoorFlashman and the Angel of the Lord
Flashman and the Tiger
Uniquely among the novels this is actually a trio of short stories.
Flashman on the March
The Films
In 1975 a film of Royal Flash was made starring Malcolm McDowell as Flashman and Oliver Reed as Otto von Bismarck. It is generally ignored by fans as it concentrated more on bawdy farce rather than the historical comedy the books are known for.
In January 2007 Picture Palace8 announced plans to make a TV film based on Flashman at the Charge, no plans to dramatise other books have yet been announced.
Political Correctness
One thing that has to be said about the Flashman Papers is that they're not for the faint of heart or easily offended! Unlike novels such as Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, Fraser has made no attempt to 'pretty up' the 19th Century British male's attitude to money, women or non-whites. Flashman often used the infamous 'N' word when referring to Africans, and generally measures the quality of women by whether or not they were a good 'gallop'9.
