Flashman

[cameronian]

For anyone who's interested, radio 4 extra is doing some Flashman repeats, can listen live or listen online later, Flashman at the charge yesterday and day before, something else today, good stuff.

'Flash for Freedom' 15.00hrs Radio 4 xtra today.

[Techno]

Listened to both parts of 'At the charge' today on the iPlayer....

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'll save up 'For Freedom' until Friday (?) and listen to that all in one go, as well.

Cheers - Phil.

[Heedless Horseman]

Never listened to any 'readings' of anything, but imagine they were good.
Just wish GMF had written more Flashman books instead of 'Pyrates' and 'Reivers' , which , to me, are just too silly. Still, it was His muse.

Note to anyone who has NOT read George MacDonald Fraser 'Flashman' series...IMHO, they are some of the most enjoyable literary creations, ever. Immersive, definitely non-PC...and with fascinating historical footnotes, they totally illuminated what was to me a 'dry as sticks' period...the C19 World, esp. the British Empire. Thanks to You. GMF!
Some of his other stuff is also pretty good, too. Although it is a sort of 'romance', 'The Candlemass Road' can give a bit of 'flavour' to 'Border Reiver' period Northumbrian history...which, in GMF's 'The Steel Bonnets', cannot be bettered as a readable historical treatise.

RIP, GMF...as a legacy, Your creations will live on!  

[mmcv]

Oh excellent, must check those out. I've been reading my way through the series the past few years, rationing myself to one every few months as I know there's only a limited number left. 

[ianrs54]

His "Quatered Safe Out here" is cheap on Kindle atm, it's also an excellent read, his auto-biography covering service in 14th Army.

[Raider4]

Thanks for the heads up!

(Although I struggle to find anything on the BBC site since they replaced the nice, simple, old version with the whizzy new "Sounds" thing. Searching for "Flashman" only brings back something about a Brazilian flashmob . . . /sigh. I expect I'll find it eventually).

[Raider4]

Ahh, just realised the original post was from 2015. Never mind.

[mmcv]

Oh yeah I'd not noticed that either 

[Heedless Horseman]

Sorry Lads...I read paper books, falling to bits and with smoke stains!!! 

[Heedless Horseman]

His "Quatered Safe Out here" is cheap on Kindle atm, it's also an excellent read, his auto-biography covering service in 14th Army.

Agreed. Great book...and so well written. RIP GMF and all from 14th now gone.

[flamingpig0]

Sorry Lads...I read paper books, falling to bits and with smoke stains!!! 

I used to until it realised that It some point in the not too distant future I would have no living space left

[cameronian]

Never listened to any 'readings' of anything, but imagine they were good.
Just wish GMF had written more Flashman books instead of 'Pyrates' and 'Reivers' , which , to me, are just too silly. Still, it was His muse.

Note to anyone who has NOT read George MacDonald Fraser 'Flashman' series...IMHO, they are some of the most enjoyable literary creations, ever. Immersive, definitely non-PC...and with fascinating historical footnotes, they totally illuminated what was to me a 'dry as sticks' period...the C19 World, esp. the British Empire. Thanks to You. GMF!
Some of his other stuff is also pretty good, too. Although it is a sort of 'romance', 'The Candlemass Road' can give a bit of 'flavour' to 'Border Reiver' period Northumbrian history...which, in GMF's 'The Steel Bonnets', cannot be bettered as a readable historical treatise.

RIP, GMF...as a legacy, Your creations will live on!  

Avoid 'Black Ajax' ... awful.

[Heedless Horseman]

I wasn't keen on 'Black Ajax' or 'Mr. American'...read once, UNLIKE the Flashman series, LOL!
'Captain In Calico' has now been released, although it was rejected by publishers as an early attempt at a Pirate adventure novel. For me, as above... but I preferred it to' Pyrates'.

There have been attempts to either fill in the Flashman series... eg. Flashman In The Civil War, (Which I have not read), or a series involving 'a Flashman relative' in the Napoleonic period. I have read some of the latter series, but couldn't really be bothered... a 'similar' style, though overdone IMHO...but, with a rather unusual 'twist' to the Waterloo' Tale. I was biased by thinking  that the concept was too much like a rip off. 

GMF's screen writing for the 'Musketeers' films is still 'classic'! They were Favourites, (the first two, anyway), before I realised GMF was involved...and way better than later attempts.