Ratings6
Average rating3.5
Celebrated Victorian bounder, cad, and lecher, Sir Harry Flashman, V. C. , returns to play his (reluctant) part in the charge of the Light Brigade in the fourth volume of the critically acclaimed Flashman Papers. As the British cavalry prepared to launch themselves against the Russian guns at Balaclava, Harry Flashman was petrified. But the Crimea was only the beginning: beyond lay the snowbound wastes of the great Russian slave empire, torture and death, headlong escapes from relentless enemies, savage tribal hordes to the right of him, passionate females to the left of him... And finally that unknown but desperate war on the roof of the world, when India was the prize, and there was nothing to stop the armed might of Imperial Russia but the wavering sabre and terrified ingenuity of old Flashy himself.
Reviews with the most likes.
It didn't age well. The philosophy and language is really outdated for me.
Harry Flashman: the unrepentant bully of Tom Brown's schooldays, now with a Victoria Cross, has three main talents - horsemanship, facility with foreign languages and fornication. A reluctant hero, Flashman plays a key part in most of the defining military campaigns of the 19th century, despite trying his utmost to escape them all.
This fourth chronicle deals with the Crimea, Balaclava and Russian expansion into the East. As usual our anti-hero Flashman is right at the heart of events. Very politically incorrect, his desire for self-preservation, along with his usual amusing insights, make the book a pleasure to read. Definitely one of the stronger entries in the series.
Series
12 primary books13 released booksFlashman Papers is a 14-book series with 12 primary works first released in 1969 with contributions by George MacDonald Fraser.
Series
12 primary booksFlashman is a 12-book series with 12 primary works first released in 1969 with contributions by George MacDonald Fraser.