Flashman and the Tiger - Hardcover

Fraser, George MacDonald

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375410244 ISBN 13: 9780375410246

Publisher: Knopf, 2000

Synopsis

The inimitable and appallingly appealing Flashy is back, in a long-awaited new installment of The Flashman Papers.

When the memoirs of Sir Harry Flashman, the notorious Victorian soldier and scoundrel, first came to light thirty years ago, it was finally revealed what had become of the infamous bully who had darkened Tom Brown's school days. Now, three new episodes in the career of this eminently disreputable adventurer place us at the center of pivotal historical events--the attempted assassination of Emperor Franz Josef in the 1880s, the Prince of Wales's involvement in the Tranby Croft gambling scandal, and the military disaster at Rorke's Drift in South Africa--as the aging but agile Flashy is pitted against one of the greatest villains of his day. Thrown into contact with assorted grand royalty and even grander tarts, he must test his wits against political heavyweights, including Bismarck, as he becomes eyewitness to the uncensored truth about two of the greatest heroes of his time.

Superb entertainment--all verve, dash, meticulous historical detail, and wildly infectious enthusiasm.

About this title

Review

Flashman and the Tiger is George MacDonald Fraser's 11th chronicle of Sir Harry Flashman, a "celebrated Victorian soldier, scoundrel, amorist, and self-confessed poltroon." Written with great wit and ingenuity, the series is presented as a succession of long-lost memoirs, which Fraser is simply editing for a modern readership. Thus does he interrupt Sir Harry's voice with footnotes, appendices, and tail-gunning apologies. Indeed, Fraser, whose editorial persona is humorless and academic, seems almost embarrassed in the presence of his subject's unbridled self-love.

This time the year is 1878, and Flashman is poking his nose into some deep political intrigue for a journalist friend who's done him various unsavory favors. Our favorite swashbuckler has just returned from Paris, where he was awarded the Legion of Honor. Yet readers familiar with Flashman's saga will know this is simply one more piece of tin to add to his capacious collection--and that even as he's revered by those around him, he finds it impossible to take himself seriously. Instead he regards himself as "one of those fortunate critters who ... are simply without shame, and wouldn't know Conscience if they tripped over it in broad day."

As usual, Flashman stumbles through history like a bull in a china shop. At the end of the first section, "The Road to Charing Cross," we realize that he's delayed the onset of World War I by various wranglings with the would-be assassins of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria. The following sections put him in contact with the Prince of Wales, a procession of remarkable whores, Zulu warriors, and yet more remarkable whores. Fraser's brashly perfect prose both fuels and awakens the imagination. And in the end the reader has to wonder: which wars almost came to pass, but were averted by a half-drunk war hero with a lust for life? --Emily White

From the Publisher

9 1.5-hour cassettes

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0375410244
• ISBN 13: 9780375410246
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368