Flashman on the March [Audio Download]

Flashy has been around for nearly 40 years now, but with only a dozen packets of his memoirs released, new Flashman's are few and far between and as such there's immense excitement whenever Mr Fraser releases a new book.

While its fair to say that "Flashman on the March" is not up to the standard of some of the previous episodes, a book that only rates "average" in comparision to, say "Flash for Freedom" or "Flashman in the Great Game" still wipes away the competition. It follows directly on from Flashmans (still unwritten) Mexican & US Civil War misadventures. To escape (among others) Mexican revolutionaries & the French Foreign Legion Gendamerie Flashman passes himself off as the executed emperor Maximillian's best friend and escapes the America's on an Austrian warship. Unfortuanately there's a 16 year old Austrian princess on board whom Flashy "educates" prior to her wedding. This requires an even faster escape from Trieste pursued by the Austrian authorities.

"Escape" this time comes in the form of Rugby companion Speedicut who entrusts Flash with £500,000 in silver to fund General Napier's invasion of Abysinia. Napier, not believing his luck sends the "heroic" Flashy in disguise on a suicide mission into the heart of Africa with the predictable amount of genocidal African kings and equally murderous (but volumptious) women after him. What follows is typical Flashman.

As we've come to expect from George MacDonald Fraser, the historical research is second to none. What lets this books down is the obscurity of the Abysinia campaign of 1867, which was little more than a quick skirmish resulting in a handful of British casualties. Whereas the Crimean war featured in "Flashman at the charge" allowed Flashman to fight among the thin red line, the charge of the heavy brigade AND the charge of the light brigade all in one day, this particular campaign lacks these opportunities. The real strength of Flashman is his almost "Forest Gump" like ability to plausibly change the course of history. History has ignored the fate of the British in Abysinia.

This is vastly superior to the previous chapter in Flashman's memoirs (Flashman & the Tiger), however I'm still hopeful that two of his oft-refered to unwritten memoirs will be published soon, namely the full account of his civil war memoirs and a more detailed account of his actions in the Zulu wars. Both have far more potential than some of the recent releases.

I suppose it is obvious that I'm a big fan. I wouldn't give 5 stars to all the Flashman volumes, but this one deserves it - the story of Napier's expeditionary force in Abyssinia is so extraordinary, as the country of Abyssinia itself is, that I thoroughly enjoyed this. I accept that avid Flashman readers would recognise similar elements from previous volumes, but in my opinion that doesn't detract from the quality and sheer enjoyment of Flashman on the March.

Fraser depicts an intriguing country with people as vicious as they are beautiful. The notes he provides are comprehensive and very amusing at times, including plenty of fruity observations about Abyssinia. We have seen mad monarchs before, but they can never be boring with Flashman involved with them, copulating, drinking, fighting, being tortured, and running for his life. King Theodore is even more ghastly than Queen Ranavalona in Flashman's Lady, and his character even more inexplicable. I was shocked by the way he alternated between sincere affection and appalling violence. Queen Masteeat and her Gallas people (not to mention Masteeat's sister Uliba Wark!) are just as interesting - Flashman's observations and first-hand experience left me in awe.

Then there's Napier's campaign to subdue Theodore and free the European hostages, which unbelievably goes like clockwork with very few casualties thanks to the utter professionalism of the expeditionary force, which Theodore hadn't counted on. Fraser points out at the end that Napier and the British army, and by extension any invading Western army, were damned if they did and damned if they didn't - they would have been branded imperialists if they had stayed to govern the country, or blamed for deserting a country in need if they left. Flashy tells Napier at the end that the British goverment could have avoided the whole saga if they had afforded Theodore the respect that a king deserves, simply by responding to his letters. How apt.

This is a superb Flashman story - it has all the exotica so lacking in his US adventures, in my opinion, and a lesson for arrogant, powerful imperialists everywhere. Great stuff.

The latest adventurer in the fascinating career of Victorian "hero", blackguard, and all-round character Sir Harry Flashman takes him into one of the lesser-known by-ways of empire, a British military expedition into Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). Were it not for the fact that is in the history books, this expedition with its highly-professional British general, its mad Abyssinian emperor, and its brilliant success would all be a but far-fetched - and that's before the Flashman adventure comes in.

Sir Harry is on good form - getting dragooned into taking part when all he wants to do is get home and enjoy his money, position, and his wife Elspeth; having the usual encounters with exotic and lusty women and exotic and dangerous men; almost getting killed; doing his craven and unsuccessful best to avoid risk to himself; and coming out on top with his spurious reputation further enhanced.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for George McDonald Fraser. The author seems to be getting tired, and we have quite long passages where very little happens and what does is not very interesting. One can only wish that rather than dealing with this episode the author had given us something of the long-awaited (and loudly-demanded by the fans) account of Flashman's "service" (on both sides) in the American Civil War. We get a teaser here with a little back story of what he got up to in its aftermath but how long must we wait for the real thing?

Still it's a Flashman, and not really the worst, so three-and-a-half stars are in order.