angelophile | Wot I am Reeding - Flashman on the March

The character of Flashman was first introduced in 1857 when Thomas Hughes published the tale of Rugby school life "Tom Brown's Schooldays". It's also pushing 40 years now since George MacDonald Fraser appropriated the character of Harry Flashman, the school bully in that book, and started writing the first of his historical novels that followed Flashman in later life, from service in Afghanistan, slave running in the US, service in the Indian Mutiny, the Traiping Rebellion, the Charge of the Light Brigade, Little Bighorn and seemingly stumbling from one crisis to another.

This is Flashman's twelfth outing, the latest in his "memoirs" to be released, and deals with the Abyssinian war, a barely remembered British military action in Africa that was unique at the time and seemingly unique since. In 1867 the British army marched into the African nation of Abyssinia to rescue a handful of hostages from a mad king. It cost 9 million pounds, a staggering amount at the time, divided public opinion and was considered by most to be a suicidal mission - a march of 300 miles through enemy territory, with no supply lines, hauling weaponry all the way to then storm an impenetrable fortress surrounded by enemies, fight a well trained and advanced Abyssinian army, rescue the captive Europeans and retreat, leaving the country intact.

It is staggering to know that this was not only achieved, by not a single British soldier was lost in enemy action, the prisoners released and a deranged, psychopathic and genocidal monarch was toppled in the process. There was nothing in it for the British but to rescue their comrades. They went not to conquer, but to rescue.

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" still wipes away the competition.

As I've come to expect from George MacDonald Fraser, the historical research is second to none. What disappoints a little is the fact that Flashman is barely involved in the campaign itself - instead he finds himself thrust on a suicide mission to raise the mad King Theodore's enemies against him, and from there into the clutches of the king itself. It's still a fascinating read to discover the "character" of a monarch who was undoubtedly crazed beyond believe and who had massacred millions of his own people. The book recalls the case of the city that had harbored rebels for a time. When the Kind discovered this, his army marched and emptied the city - over 10,000 people. Many were burnt alive, the remaining thousands were crucified around the city. In one fouls stroke the entire population of a wondrous city were killed in the most despicable way, men, women and children.
Despite this horrific background, there's still time for Flashman's typically bawdy humor as he wines and wenches his way through the campaign, lusting after and lusted after by voluptuous African queens, Amazons, hellcat fighting women and Flashman fleeing from one crisis to the next with typical knavery and cowardice.

This is vastly superior to the previous chapter in Flashman's memoirs (Flashman & the Tiger), and I'm still hopeful that two of his oft-referred to unwritten memoirs will be published soon, namely the full account of his service in the US Civil War, the Zulu wars and his service in Mexico with Emperor Maximillian.