Most of what I know of the Victorian era was prompted by his books.
When I thought of a vehicle to do so, the Flashman series from George MacDonald Fraser came to mind. History is full of amazing stories and in my books I try to do my bit to tell some of them. The Begum of Samru from my second book is another: a fifteen-year-old nautch dancer who gained the confidence of an army, had a man literally kill himself over her and who led her soldiers with skill and courage, before becoming something of a Catholic saint. Thomas Cochrane who features in my first book is one of those, his real life adventures seem ridiculously far fetched for a fictional character. There are countless times when I have come across a character or incident that has been so hard to believe that I have had to search out other sources for confirmation.
I am a firm believer in the maxim that history is stranger than fiction. As royalists conduct vindictive purges on former Bonapartists, Flashman is embroiled in a notorious eve of execution jail-break as he is reunited with old friends to outwit old enemies. Diplomatic intrigues follow and, with the aid of a Russian countess, our hero uncovers the enemy’s plans – and works to frustrate them.Īlso included is the short story Flashman’s Christmas, set in Paris a few months after the battle of Waterloo. Flashman joins this mission in what should have been a safe diplomatic visit – but of course was anything but.įrom bloody, frozen retreats to battles in blizzards, he is soon in the thick of the action as a country fights for its very survival. Russia was forced to come to its aid and Britain too sent observers to assess how to help. In 1806 Prussia declared war on France and in a disastrous campaign lost most of its territory. The bulk of this volume is taken up with Flashman’s adventures in what was then Prussia, but which now comprises Poland, Russia and the Baltic states. This book fills in two gaps in Flashman’s career, hitherto uncovered by his memoirs.
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