The Flashman Papers by George MacDonald Fraser
Fraser's Flashman Lived on Cowardice and Sharp Survival Instinct
Mar 1, 2009
If you ever wanted to know about the making of the British Empire and the political intrigues and wars of the second half of the 19th century, that too without poring over history books, there's always George MacDonald Fraser. Just turn to one of his 12 Flashman books.
Here's the ultimate anti-hero, a coward who despite his best efforts kept stumbling into wars and ticklish situations. Flashman had an unquenchable sexual appetite which more often than not, trapped him in tight spots.
Fraser launched his Flashman character from where Thomas Hughes left off in Tom Brown's Schooldays, where Flashman is the bully who gets expelled from Rugby Public School.
Flashman and 19th century history
Name the big battles of the 19th century - The Afghan war, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Anglo-Sikh war, 1857 Mutiny in India, Opium wars in China, American Civil War, Battle of Little Big Horn - Flashman ends up in the middle. He emerges as a hero, thanks to a gift for quick thinking when it comes to survival. There are moments of genuine heroism too, but only when survival is impossible without heroism.
George MacDonald Fraser achieves the difficult task of merging historical characters into a fictional narrative with a seamless smoothness. There is Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Disraeli, Bismarck, General Custer, Rani Lakshmi Bai, General Custer and so many others. And they are not reduced to mere names in the story. There is an assessment of every character, though from Flashman's point of view.
It's not just the big names who are weaved in. Local incidents and local figures also find pride of place enriching our perspective of the American Civil War or China's Opium wars. Historical references are casually thrown in, many of them so subtly brought in that a casual reader would miss out on the significance. A combination of meticulous research and a passion for history shows up in the Flashman narratives.
Flashman and Fiction
Fraser does not stop at historical characters. Royal Flash uses the plot of the popular novel The Prisoner of Zenda. Flashman even hints at the end of the novel that Zenda author Anthony Hope got the plot from Flashman's experiences in Royal Flash. There is Flashman and the Tiger, which uses Sherlock Holmes' Adventure of the Empty House and its menacing murderer Colonel Sebastian Moran. The ever-irreverent Flashman does not forget to poke fun at Sherlock Holmes' powers of deduction.
Though a coward Flashman does have the skills and training to fight and win if absolutely necessary. He is a man of many talents, including the first-ever hat-trick in the history of cricket.
On the flip side, graphic descriptions of Flashman's sexual activities does invite revulsion at times.
Flashman's Unpublished Adventures
Flashman refers to being part of the Union at one stage and the Confederates at another stage of the American Civil War. But Fraser never got around to writing that book. Undoubtedly we would have got to know much more about General Ulysses Grant and General Robert E Lee, among others.
There are many other events where Flashman was present unwillingly, which were never fully narrated. Fraser took those chapters of the 'Flashman Papers' to his grave, when he died last year at the age of 82 .
