The Flashman Papers is a series of novels and short stories written by George MacDonald Fraser, the first of which was published in 1969. The books centre on the exploits of the fictional protagonist Harry Flashman. He is a cowardly British soldier, rake and cad who is placed in a series of real historical incidents between 1839 and 1894. While the incidents and much of the detail in the novels have a factual background, Flashman's actions in the stories either are entirely fictional or are real, historical actions that are fictionally attributed to him. Flashman is a character in the 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days; Hughes' version of the character is a bully at Rugby School who is expelled for drunkenness. The character was then developed by Fraser and appeared in the 1969 novel Flashman. Fraser went on to write eleven novels and one collection of short stories featuring the character.
During the course of Fraser's novels, Flashman goes from his expulsion from school into the army. Although he is a coward who tries to run away from any danger, he is involved in many famous military episodes from the 19th century, often taking actions that cause or affect events, such as his flatulence affecting the Charge of the Light Brigade, or being the person who probably shot George Armstrong Custer. When circumstances run against him and he is forced to fight, he often does so relatively capably. Despite his cowardice and his attempts to flee, he becomes a decorated war hero and rises to the rank of brigadier-general. He also meets people who either were notable at the time—such as Benjamin Disraeli and the Duke of Wellington—or became well known after Flashman met them—such as Abraham Lincoln. Flashman either has or tries to have sex with most of the female characters. By the end of the ninth book he estimates that he has had sex with 480 women.
The publication sequence of the books differs from the fictional chronology, with the time frame of some books overlapping. One of the novels, Flashman and the Redskins, is in two parts, the first takes place in 1849–1850 and the second covers 1875–1876. Although the main series of stories finishes in 1894, Flashman lives on until 1915 and appears in his late 80s in another Fraser novel, Mr American.
Context
The series consists of twelve historical fiction books written by the journalist, author and screenwriter George MacDonald Fraser, that were published between 1969 and 2005. The series consists of eleven novels and one collection of short stories, spanning from 1839 to 1894; they are the memoirs of the fictional character General Sir Harry Paget Flashman, VC, KCB, KCIE. Although Flashman is fictional, the settings and history of the events, and the people with whom he interacts are all largely based around historical events and individuals, although three contain elements of other novels. Flashman first appeared in the 1857 semi-autobiographical novel Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes as a bully at Rugby School, who persecutes Tom Brown, and who is expelled for drunkenness: Fraser's series of novels starts with Flashman's expulsion from school. Based on a literary conceit, an explanatory note—itself also fictional—at the start of Flashman sets the context and explains that the memoirs had been found in an auction house in Ashby, Leicestershire, and had subsequently come into the possession of Fraser, who has acted in the role of editor. Fraser also included pages of notes and appendices at the end of each volume, providing the factual background for Flashman's endeavours.
Fraser was working as a journalist on The Glasgow Herald when he wrote the first novel, Flashman; writing in the evenings, after work, he took 90 hours in total to write the story. After the book was published, he left journalism and took up writing novels. When a break from writing was forced upon him by a broken arm, he abandoned the book until his wife read the manuscript and urged him to finish. He did not find a publisher for the novel for two years, until Barrie & Jenkins published it in 1969. When the novel was published in the US the same year, of the 34 reviews read by Alden Whitman of The New York Times, ten of them considered the book to be a genuine autobiography. Fraser researched each novel at Trinity College Dublin. From their first publication, the books were a commercial success, and new editions appeared on the best-sellers' lists.
Flashman
Flashman is from a semi-aristocratic background; he recounted that his great-grandfather "made a fortune in America out of slaves and rum, and piracy, too, I shouldn't wonder". His father was "a dissolute former MP, living beyond the bounds of respectable society, and ... his mother [was] born of the self-promoting Paget family". Despite joining the army after expulsion from school, Flashman is a self-confessed coward with a false reputation for bravery, earned at the expense of others, and despite him trying to avoid danger at all costs. He is also "a scoundrel, a drunk, a liar, a cheat [and] a braggart", who was described by Fraser as "an unrepentant old cad" whose only positive features are "humour and shameless honesty as a memorialist".
Flashman is tall, weighs (12½ stone in the first book, fourteen stone in the last), has broad shoulders and is attractive to women. He was forced into marriage in the first book, after he "caddishly deflowered" Elspeth Morrison, the daughter of a wealthy Scottish textile manufacturer with whom he had been billeted. Despite being married—and the fact he deeply loves his wife—Flashman is "a compulsive womaniser" who has bedded 480 women by the tenth book in the series, which was set in 1859. Elspeth is also probably unfaithful to him on several occasions. Flashman notes that he has three "prime talents, for horses, languages, and fornication"; he was also described by the master-at-arms of the 11th Hussars as a strong swordsman and was skilled with a lance, particularly at tent pegging. When it is necessary for him to control his fear, he will perform bravely, although is more adept at saving his own skin at the expense of others.
In the course of the series, Flashman is promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and decorated numerous times by different countries. While the books cover some of the awards—such as being given the Victoria Cross for his actions during the sieges of Cawnpore and Lucknow—some stories are not known, such as how and why he served on both sides of the American Civil War and how he won the Medal of Honor.
During his travels Flashman meets people who took part in 19th-century events, including Queen Victoria, Abraham Lincoln, Otto von Bismarck, Oscar Wilde and Florence Nightingale, and he is involved as a participant in some of the century's most notable events, including the Indian Rebellion, the Taiping Rebellion, the charge of the Light Brigade, the Siege of Khartoum, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry and the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Flashman died in 1915, although the details are unknown.
Publication sequence
+ Books by publication sequence Title and time Publisher Date Length (first edition) Plot Flashman(1839–1842) Herbert Jenkins 1969 256 pp Flashman's expulsion from Rugby School for drunkenness leads him to join the British Army. He joins the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons commanded by Lord Cardigan. After an affair with a fellow-officer's lover, he fights a duel, but cheats. He is posted to Scotland because of the affair, and is billeted with the Morrison family; he takes advantage of one of the daughters, Elspeth. After a forced marriage, Flashman is required to resign his position in the Hussars and instead is gazetted into a position with the East India Company.
After revealing his language and riding skills, Flashman is assigned to Afghanistan, where he is present at the retreat from Kabul, the last stand at Gandamak and the Siege of Jalalabad. Royal Flash(1842–1843 and 1847–1848) Barrie & Jenkins 1970 256 pp Fleeing from a police raid on a brothel he was visiting, Flashman meets Lola Montez and Otto von Bismarck. Some years later Flashman is tempted to Munich, where Bismarck has him abducted; he is blackmailed into imitating Prince Carl Gustaf, a fictional member of the Danish royal family. Gustaf is to be married to Duchess Irma, the ruler of the fictional Duchy of Strackenz; according to Bismarck the prince has contracted a sexually transmitted disease, which would be embarrassing if uncovered by his future wife. This turns out to be a lie and the prince has been imprisoned in Jotunberg Castle. Flashman is a doppelgänger of the Prince and is trained to take his place until the Prince is cured. Flashman is accompanied to Strackenz by Bismarck's accomplices, Rudi von Starnberg, Detchard and de Gautet, and is married to the Duchess. Shortly afterwards, while out hunting, Flashman finds out that Bismarck meant to double-cross him and kill him, but he turns the tables on his attacker and tortures the information out of him and kills him instead. He is then captured by Strackenzian nationalists and forced to help them storm the Jotunberg Castle. They are successful, but Flashman and von Starnberg fight in the dungeon, with Flashman narrowly escaping death before escaping back to England, with the help of Montez, who robs him along the way. Flash for Freedom!(1848–1849) Barrie & Jenkins 1971 272 pp Flashman is falsely accused of cheating at cards, and runs away from disgrace by accepting an offer of a berth on the slaving ship part owned by his father-in-law; the ship is captained by John Charity Spring, an ex-fellow of Oriel College, Oxford who quotes Latin and Greek at length. After sailing to Dahomey, Spring buys slaves from King Ghezo; the deal goes wrong and the crew are attacked by Gezo's Amazons, resulting in the mortal wounding of the third mate, Mr Comber. Comber dies, but admits to Flashman that he is a spy for the navy, giving Flashman his papers to prove his identity. The ship makes its way to America but is captured by the United States Navy. Flashman assumes the identity of Comber and escapes, hiding in the brothel of Susie Willinck. He is abducted by the Underground Railroad and forced to assist in transporting a slave to freedom in Canada. He is accused of being an abolitionist and escapes, ending up employed as a slave driver on a plantation. Caught having sex with the owner's wife, he is himself sold into slavery, but escapes with a slave, before being assisted to freedom by junior congressman Abraham Lincoln. He returns to New Orleans and demands passage to Britain from Spring. Flashman at the Charge(1854–1855) Barrie & Jenkins 1973 286 pp Flashman is ordered to protect and mentor William of Celle—a (fictional) cousin of Queen Victoria—during the Crimean War; William is killed. Flashman is subsequently involved in The Thin Red Line, the charge of the Heavy Brigade and the charge of the Light Brigade, where he surrenders. He is taken into Russia and placed in the custody of Count Pencherjevsky; he also meets his old schoolfellow Scud East and Count Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev, a vicious Russian army captain. After overhearing plans for the Russian invasion of British India, Flashman and East escape, but Flashman is recaptured. He is taken by Ignatiev across central Asia as part of his plans to conquer India, but is subsequently rescued from prison by cohorts of Yaqub Beg. Tajik and Uzbek warriors attack and destroy the Russian fleet with the aid of Flashman, who had been drugged with hashish. Flashman in the Great Game(1856–1858) Barrie & Jenkins 1975 336 pp