Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser

The first instalment of the Flashman Papers sees the fag-roasting rotter from Tom Brown's Schooldays commence his military career as a reluctant secret agent in Afghanistan. Expelled from Rugby for drunkenness, and none too welcome at home after seducing his father's mistress, the young Flashman embarks on a military career with Lord Cardigan's Hussars. En route to Afghanistan, our hero hones his skills as a soldier, duellist, imposter, coward and amorist (mastering all 97 ways of Hindu love-making during a brief sojourn in Calcutta), before being pressed into reluctant service as a secret agent. His Afghan adventures culminate in a starring role in that great historic disaster, the Retreat from Kabul.

A fun adventure; despite the racism and sexism
Presented as the discovery of the supposedly historical Flashman Papers, this book chronicles the subsequent career of the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's School Days.

The book begins with a fictional note explaining that the Flashman Papers were discovered in 1965 during a sale of household furniture in Ashby, Leicestershire. The papers are attributed to Harry Paget Flashman, the bully featured in Thomas Hughes' novel, who becomes a well-known Victorian military hero (in Fraser's fictional England). The papers were supposedly written between 1900 and 1905. The subsequent publishing of these papers, of which Flashman is the first instalment, contrasts the public image of a (fictional) hero with his own more scandalous account of his life as an amoral and cowardly bully.

Flashman begins with the eponymous hero's own account of his expulsion from Rugby and ends with his fame as “the Hector of Afghanistan”. It details his life from 1839 to 1842 and his travels to Scotland, India, and Afghanistan. It also contains a number of notes by the author, in the guise of a fictional editor, providing additional historical glosses on the events described. The history in these books is largely accurate; most of the prominent figures Flashman meets were real people.

The main strength of the books is Flashman himself. He's such a terrible but wonderful character. Despite the racism, misogyny and sexism. Recommended for the armchair adventurer or amateur historian.

Not for the faint of heart or easily offended

This book was written to be offensive and uses some terms which we find unacceptable even for humors sake. It was a different time, that doesn't make it right, but it doesn't mean an adult can't look past it.

Horrid book. Couldn't even get half way. I'm surprised I got that far. Near the beginning, Flashman beats his father's mistress because she won't have sex with him. It doesn't get better after that. This was recommended to me by a woman acquaintance and now I wonder what I said to make her think I would like this.

It's tough to review this one because it wasn't quite what I expected. I definitely thought that the character Flashman would be more charming, witty, and hilarious than he turned out to be. Instead he turned out to be a (self-admitted) scoundrel and coward, a hypocrite, and an altogether mean and unlikeable scumbag. So that knocked the book down a few stars for me, even though I recognize the parody the author is going for.

The plot and historical fiction aspects brought a few stars back. While the first half focuses a tad heavily on military strategy, the rest focuses on stories of the British First Afghan War that I had never heard before. It's absolutely fascinating, and Fraser does a good job writing adventure. He clearly has learned a thing or two from his predecessors in the genre.

So in the end I landed somewhere in the middle between offended and invested, wondering if I should read the next one or not. We'll see.