Flashman (novel)
First edition cover
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| Author | George MacDonald Fraser |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Arthur Barbosa |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Barrie & Jenkins |
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Publication date
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1969 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 256 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 29733 |
| 823/.9/14 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.F8418 Fp PR6056.R287 |
| Preceded by | - |
| Followed by | Royal Flash |
Flashman is a 1969 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the first of the Flashman novels.
Presented within the frame of the discovery of the supposedly historical Flashman Papers, this book chronicles the subsequent career of the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's School Days. The book begins with a fictional note explaining 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, the bully featured in Thomas Hughes' novel, who becomes 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 instalment, contrasts the public image of a (fictional) hero with his own more scandalous account of his life as an amoral and cowardly bully. Flashman begins with the eponymous hero's own account of his expulsion from Rugby and ends with his fame as "the Hector of Afghanistan". It details 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, providing additional historical glosses on the events described. The history in these books is largely accurate; most of the prominent figures Flashman meets were real people.
Flashman's expulsion from Rugby for drunkenness leads him to join the British Army in what he hopes will be a sinecure. He joins the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons commanded by Lord Cardigan, to whom he toadies in his best style. After an affair with a fellow-officer's lover, he is challenged to 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. Once the reason for fighting emerges, the army stations Flashman in Scotland. He is quartered with the Morrison family and soon enough 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.
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