Rating: 
Summary: No Plungers Need Apply.
Review: Combine Tom Jones, Ullyses, George Pickett, and the Cowardly Lion -- throw in a good half-dozen wenches, wanton, or otherwise, a collection of doddering senior army half-wits and a Khyber pass adventure and you have FLASHMAN by George MacDonald Fraser. If you enjoyed The Three Musketeers, or perhaps Indiana Jones, or anything Kipling, then exit this screen by the fastest possible key stroke and order this book. You will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Fantastic story. Clever. Interesting. Hilarious
Rating:
Summary: FLASHY IS THE BEST!!!
Review: Flashman is the funniest character in modern fiction. George MacDonald Fraser is a wonderful writer. His characters are very convincing and his historical recreations seem extremely real. Add lots of sex, beautiful women and exciting intrigue and you get the most satisfying read around. No wonder we Flashmaniacs wait with bated breath for each of our hero's new adventures.
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Summary: Triumph of the Wicked!
Review: Fraser is an absolute master of historical fiction. In this, the first effort in the acclaimed "Flashman" series, Fraser is at the top of his game. In this spare, but well crafted narrative we follow the early career of the datardly and unrepentant scoundrel, Harry Flashman in the first Afghanistan War. It is rare that a book can make you howl with laughter while teaching you history at the same time. Flashman undergoes a harrowing experience on the retreat from Kabul, in the process becoming one of the most delightfully politically-incorrect heroes in popular fiction. The character is wonderful, the plot is superb, and the history is dead-on accurate. Any fans of historical fiction (with a mature sense of humor) would do well to make the acquaintance of Sir Harry Flashman. And this is the place to start.
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Summary: A great read except a few avoidaable inaccuracies
Review: Fraser should drop everything else and concentrate on excavating the Flashman archives. However, in doing an otherwise painstaking architectural dig, Fraser has probably made a few mistakes in deciphering Flashman's cramped and generally unreadable handwriting: I refer specifically to Flashy's Indian ramblings. For example, an Indian's religion, region of origin within India and caste can usually be pinpointed with a fair degree of accuracy from his 'Christian' name. Flashy, the old India hand, even when drunk, old, and totally dissolute, as he undoubtedly was when he penned his memoirs, would probably not have committed some of the inaccuracies in names and in the transliteration of the vernacular which seems to have taken place. Fraser is free to contact me at udayg@banktijari.com, and I shall be happy to forward him a list of common names and their regional and religious origin, together with some elementary rules of grammer. These, I think, should help him to an extent, in his researches. Again, I could be totally wrong of course. The old boy might have slipped far enough into senility to mix up his names and completely bolwderize his Hindusthani.
Rating:
Summary: Great Storytelling!
Review: George MacDonald Fraser kept me on the edge of my seat while reading his delightful novel. With an abilty to get in to situations where the courageous cower, the cad known as Harry Flashman cons his way through crutial moments of world history. In "Flashman : From the Flashman Papers, 1839-1842", the action and humor kept on growing to new heights at every turn of the page leading to one of the greatest moments of comedy the world of liturature has ever produced. Thank you George MacDonald Fraser. Long Live Harry Flashman!
Rating: 
Summary: A scurrilous historical romp
Review: Having read Tom Brown's Schooldays and thoroughly enjoyed it, I was initially perturbed by the idea of Flashman being developed into an anti-hero figure. Such spin-offs very rarely work (eg any non-Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes story) but this is a triumph; a comical and superbly researched romp through Victorian India. The continuation from Hughes' original novel is handled with skilful aplomb and Flashman's narrative voice is, on the whole, highly entertaining. My sole quibble would be that the narrative voice can become somewhat confused at times - on more than one occasion, Fraser nudges Flashman out of the way. Negative criticisms regarding the book's lack of political correctness are almost beneath contempt - to turn Flashman into a politically correct figure is to detach him completely from the nineteenth century in order to pander to the puritanical expectations of the humourless and the insecure.
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Summary: Brilliant, Superb and 1001 other superlatives
Review: How many of us.. with a low chuckle and under our breath murmur... "flashy"... with a smile on our faces, whilst reading the flashman series, when our hero gets into one of his numerous scrapes? A very likeable rogue, first read flashman in 1986, cried with laughter. The introduction and flashy's confessions over "not mixing drinks" is an absolute classic line. The whole book is worth it for this paragraph alone!! The funniest book I have ever read. Later books in the series I find weaker, the author was much stronger I feel during his early writings, however, not to negate from the series, they are all funny, some just incredible and some.. well.. some a tad formulaic perhaps.
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Summary: Everything I need to know I learned from Flashman
Review: I discovered and read George MacDonald Fraser's masterful "Flashman" series in my teens (I'm now crouching this side of forty), at the same time I first read Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. From Bond I've learned how to play baccarat, how to pull an Aston Martin out of a skid, and how to climb through a tunnel of scorching hot metal. I have never in my life had to do any of these things. On the other hand, from Flashman I've learned lessons I use every day of my life: * When the trouble starts, keep your head down, or better yet, in a totally different country.
* Never be afraid to accept credit for something good you did. That goes double for something good you didn't.
* Never volunteer.
* Wine, women, and song? To hell with the song.
* There's no shame in living as a coward. Beats dying as a hero.
* Always have an escape plan. If not, steal someone else's.
Game, set, match: Flashy.
Rating: 
Summary: News flash: This bit
Review: I had high hopes for "Flashman," hearing the series described as having the wit of Wodehouse, lots of rousing adventure and historical accuracy. But with an early scene of Flashman slapping around his girlfriend and then playing a cruel trick on a fellow officer, my enthusiasm waned. Things just got worse with more beatings of women, lots of racist ranting and some unconvincing swashbuckling. Fraser seems to find humor in thuggery and charm in crude brutality. Harry's just not an appealing character, and the "historical detail" is not worth having to put up with him. And as this was written in 1969, the lavish use of the n-word seems a particularly interesting choice. (As I am also a big fan of Chuck Palahniuk, Outkast and Adam Sandler, you can't dismiss me as some kind of PC prude.) The rousing adventure is usually of the "farmer's daughter" type and the settings doesn't come to life. Why would I read another book about a nasty frat boy when it just really isn't any fun? Try T.E. Lawrence ("Seven Pillars of Wisdom") or Robert Byron ("Road to Oxiana") if you want genuinely amusing Brit characters in exotic locales.
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