Rating: 
Summary: The Stars and Stripes for awhile
Review: It is said that this book is based on historical fact. But with MacDonald Fraser you can never be sure if he wears his straight face, or if he is putting you on. Perhaps he just wants to make a point when he puts old Buck Flashman on the scene? It is an interesting story, well writen. But the cockney accents seem a bit overdone, making for a difficult read. A bit of stiff upper lip may have served better.
Rating: 
Summary: MacDonald Fraser Scored A Knockout With Black Ajax!
Review: One of the delightful things about the work of George MacDonald Fraser is the wide range of subjects he addresses which are knit together by one singular talent - his ability to breath life into another era.Those who have only read The Flashman Papers (not a bad thing by any means) have only seen one facet of Mr. Fraser's talent. When he applied it in "The Steel Bonnets", one of the most confusing, convoluted and bloody periods in English history leapt into focus. Now in addressing the doomed career of Tom Molineaux, a former slave who freed himself by beating another slave to death, Fraser sheds some much needed light on that contradictory period which was Regency England. Using Molineaux's brief career as the subject of an "industrious inquirer", Fraser brings in the views of such diverse observers as an eccentric upper class "pedestrian" who - between walks to Scotland and back - trains Tom Cribb for the second bout, a boxing journalist of the period whose florid hyperbole disguises the fact that he is rarely able to actually attend the matches and, of course, Flash Harry's "guv'ner", Buckley "Mad Buck" Flashman. "Black Ajax" reveals more about the attitudes, prejudices and life styles of the Regency than it really does about poor Tom Molineaux. For those looking for a politically correct read, look elsewhere for, as Fraser is fond of saying, history cannot be bent to suit today's attitudes and still remain history. For those who revel in Fraser's adept use of dialect and period slang and his ability to bring an entire era to life, this is for you.
Rating:
Summary: The Stars and Stripes for awhile
Review: Three of Mr. Fraser's most recent works have all dealt seriously with the same theme -- that of racism. Flashman and the Angel of the Lord explored John Brown and the issue of slavery. Quartered Safe Out Here dealt frankly with the racism that Allied soldiers lived with as they battle the Japanese in WWII. Now Mr. Fraser tackles the subtle racist and classist attitudes of Regency England with his most practiced touch. Mr. Fraser writes historical novels and in Black Ajax he creates the most complete picture of a historical period yet. He does so be depicting the action through the eyes of many different characters as they witness or react to the events of Tom Molineaux, a black american pugilist determined to knock the British boxing establishment to the canvas. All his characters are rich, most are extremely funny. Not the least of which is Sir Harry Flashman's decadent dad, proving that vice (if not bravery) run in the family. This may very well be Mr. Fraser's best book...it is certainly his most mature. While he has always used his characters' words to prove an antithetical point (i.e. what they say is the opposite of what good people should do) in no other work is his sarcasm so polished, his condemnation of hypocrisy so ascerbic. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: A ripping yarn with serious themes
Review: Three of Mr. Fraser's most recent works have all dealt seriously with the same theme -- that of racism. Flashman and the Angel of the Lord explored John Brown and the issue of slavery. Quartered Safe Out Here dealt frankly with the racism that Allied soldiers lived with as they battle the Japanese in WWII. Now Mr. Fraser tackles the subtle racist and classist attitudes of Regency England with his most practiced touch. Mr. Fraser writes historical novels and in Black Ajax he creates the most complete picture of a historical period yet. He does so be depicting the action through the eyes of many different characters as they witness or react to the events of Tom Molineaux, a black american pugilist determined to knock the British boxing establishment to the canvas. All his characters are rich, most are extremely funny. Not the least of which is Sir Harry Flashman's decadent dad, proving that vice (if not bravery) run in the family. This may very well be Mr. Fraser's best book...it is certainly his most mature. While he has always used his characters' words to prove an antithetical point (i.e. what they say is the opposite of what good people should do) in no other work is his sarcasm so polished, his condemnation of hypocrisy so ascerbic. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Brutal and Beautiful
Review: Tom Molineaux, ex slave and brawler turned bare knuckle prize fighter, lover and dandy living life to great excess in pre Victorian English high society. This is a true story told from the view point of various people who come into contact with Molineaux on his journey up and down the social ladder. These characters, ranging from a female conquest's butler to the Prince Regent are wonderfully constructed and brought to life by Fraser's gift for the language of the time as already seen in the Flashman Papers. Molineaux is a horribly misunderstood and manipulated character and the story of his rise and fall is both touching and poignant whilst remaining humourous, gripping and brutal. Each person and scene is beautifully constructed, Fraser's passion for the era is obvious. The prologue alone telling the story of a broken down pug on his last legs brings tears to the eye and is worth the price of the book alone.
Rating:
Summary: Brutal and Beautiful
Review: Tom Molineaux, ex slave and brawler turned bare knuckle prize fighter, lover and dandy living life to great excess in pre Victorian English high society. This is a true story told from the view point of various people who come into contact with Molineaux on his journey up and down the social ladder. These characters, ranging from a female conquest's butler to the Prince Regent are wonderfully constructed and brought to life by Fraser's gift for the language of the time as already seen in the Flashman Papers. Molineaux is a horribly misunderstood and manipulated character and the story of his rise and fall is both touching and poignant whilst remaining humourous, gripping and brutal. Each person and scene is beautifully constructed, Fraser's passion for the era is obvious. The prologue alone telling the story of a broken down pug on his last legs brings tears to the eye and is worth the price of the book alone.
Rating:
Summary: An unusual historical fiction destined for the big screen.
Review: With a relatively unusual format, using the jargon and slang peculiar to England during the Napoleonic era, the author brings to life a little known historical event in which an American ex-slave nearly becomes the boxing champion of England. Properly adapted for the screen, this stands to be a wonderful, highly unusual movie.
Rating:
Summary: An unusual historical fiction destined for the big screen.
Review: With a relatively unusual format, using the jargon and slang peculiar to England during the Napoleonic era, the author brings to life a little known historical event in which an American ex-slave nearly becomes the boxing champion of England. Properly adapted for the screen, this stands to be a wonderful, highly unusual movie.
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