Flashman on the March
The impressionable (reprehensible?) Sir Harry Flashman, V.C., K.C.B., K.C.I.E. (none of them deserved) rides again to the delight of the global fans of the Victorian “hero” created by George MacDonald Fraser. The latest memoir finds Flashman forced to join a mission to aid European hostages held by the mad King Theodore of Abyssinia in 1867-1868. Anyone acquainted with Flashy knows he would never willingly put himself in harm’s way. He takes on the task to deliver ransom money demanded by Theodore only to escape Austrians determined to bring him to justice for seducing an underage princess! This action sets the tone for Flashman’s numerous attempts to save his own life while willingly pushing others into the line of fire. His adventures naturally include love bouts with glamorous, and bloodthirsty, women and equally hair-raising meetings with the thoroughly psychotic King Theodore. Fraser is a master of historical research, and his descriptions and analyses of Theodore, Abyssinia, Sir Robert Napier, and the Battle of Magdala serve as perfect backdrops for one of the most dishonorable, and most entertaining, characters in historical fiction.
