Flashman (novel)

Flashman is a 1969 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the first of the Flashman novels.

Plot introduction

Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's Schooldays. The book begins with an explanatory note saying that the Flashman Papers were discovered in 1965 during a sale of household furniture in Ashby, Leicestershire. The papers are attributed to Harry Paget Flashman, who is not only the bully featured in Thomas Hughes' novel, but also a well known Victorian military hero (in Fraser's fictional England). The papers were supposedly written between 1900 and 1905. The subsequent publishing of these papers, of which Flashman is the first, contrasts the previously believed exploits of a (fictional) hero with his own more scandalous account, which shows the life of a cowardly bully. Flashman begins with his own account of expulsion from Rugby and ends with his fame as the "Hector of Afghanistan", detailing his life from 1839 to 1842 and his travels to Scotland, India, and Afghanistan. It also contains a number of notes by the author, in the guise of a fictional editor, giving additional historical information on the events described. The history in these books is quite accurate; most of the people Flashman meets are real people.

Plot summary

Flashman's expulsion from Rugby for drunkenness leads him to join the Army for what he hopes will be a sinecure. He joins the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons commanded by Lord Cardigan whom he toadies in his best style. After an affair with a fellow officer's lover, he is forced to fight a duel but wins after promising a large sum of money to the pistol loader to give his opponent a blank load in his gun. He does not kill his opponent but instead delopes and accidentally shoots the top off a bottle thirty yards away, an action that gives him instant fame and the respect of the Duke of Wellington. However, once it was found out what they were fighting over, Flashman is stationed in Scotland. He is quartered with the Morrison family, and soon enough he takes advantage of one of the daughters, Elspeth. After a forced marriage, Flashman is required to resign the Hussars due to marrying below his station. He is given another option, to make his reputation in India.

By showing off his language and riding skills in India, Flashman is assigned to the worst frontier of the British Empire at that time, Afghanistan. His adventures include the retreat from Kabul, Last Stand at Gandamak and the Siege of Jalalabad, in the First Anglo-Afghan War. Despite being captured, tortured, and escaping death numerous times, and hiding and shirking his duty as much as possible, he comes through it all alive and with a hero's reputation.

Characters

Fictional characters

• Harry Paget Flashman - The hero or anti-hero,
• Elspeth Morrison - His adoring and possibly unfaithful wife,
• Henry Buckley Flashman - His father,
• John Morrison - His father-in-law,
• Judy - His father's mistress and (briefly) Flashman's lover,
• Bernier - The man he insults and duels with,
• Josette - Bernier's lover, with whom Flashman has an affair,
• Fetnab - Flashman's language and sexual tutor in India,
• Narreeman - An Afghan dancer whom Flashman rapes,
• Gul Shah - Narreeman's lover and later husband, and Flashman's torturer,
• Hudson - Flashman's sergeant on the retreat from Kabul.

Historical characters

• Thomas Hughes - The author of Tom Brown's Schooldays,
• Thomas Arnold - The headmaster of Rugby School,
• Lord Cardigan - Flashman's original commanding officer, whom he describes as "amusing, frightening, vindictive, charming, and downright dangerous" and "too stupid ever to be afraid",
• Captain John Reynolds - embroiled in "The Black Bottle Affair" with Lord Cardigan
• Lord Auckland - Governor-General of India,
• Sir Robert Henry Sale - Commander at the Siege of Jalalabad,
• Lady Sale - Sir Robert's wife, and celebrated diarist
• Paolo Di Avitabile - Governor of Peshawar, Flashman said of him "the Sikhs and Afghans were more scared of him than the devil himself",
• Willoughby Cotton - Former army commander at Kabul,
• Alexander Burnes - Political agent at Kabul, Flashman is present at his assassination,
• Sher Afzul,
• General John Nicholson,
• William Hay Macnaghten - Head political agent at Kabul, Flashman is present at his assassination,
• General Elphinstone - Commander of the Kabul army, whom Flashman describes as "the greatest military idiot of our own or any other day",
• Akbar Khan - Led the revolt in Kabul and held Flashman hostage; Flashman "was impressed by the obvious latent strength of the man" but also says "he was something of a dandy",
• William Nott,
• Henry Havelock,
• Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough- Governor-General of India, whom Flashman found to be rather long-winded,
• Duke of Wellington,
• Queen Victoria - Flashman describes her as "rather plump, and pretty enough beneath the neck",
• Prince Albert - who has "hellish-looking whiskers" according to Flashman,
• Thomas Babington Macaulay.