# I've read all the Flashman books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503 "2009-02-19T03:12:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/1 "2009-02-19T03:12:00Z")
Whatever shall I do? George McDonald Frazier is dead, there will be no more! ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/2 "2009-02-19T03:50:13Z")
I feel your pain. May I suggest his _Complete McAuslan_? It’s his only non-Flashman book that I’ve read and liked. Oh, I’ve read _The Reavers_, but that was so horrible I refuse to acknowledge its existence (except to warn you in this post to avoid, avoid, avoid it). ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/3 "2009-02-19T03:56:03Z")
I recommend _The Pyrates_ (purely comic novel) and _Mr. American_ (in which Flashman appears as an elderly character). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/4 "2009-02-19T04:03:26Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > I recommend _The Pyrates_ (purely comic novel) and _Mr. American_ (in which Flashman appears as an elderly character). I read those back when I worked at a library and attempted the Flashman books. I was too young to appreciate the Cowardly Dastardly Bastard as Protagonist. 🙂 As for McAuslan…“God help the German who was stabbed with McAuslan’s bayonet, he would surely die of blood poisoning.” and “I’m not panicking, I’m bloody lost!” 🙂 What the hell happened to him after the Missionary’s Wife turned whore drugged him? What happened at the end of _Flashman and the Angel of the Lord_ when that magnificent Black woman let him escape the train? What about the US Civil War, dammit? ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/5 "2009-02-19T04:45:39Z")
Yes, and what monstrous blackmail did President Lincoln hold over him? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/6 "2009-02-19T13:30:48Z")
Is _The General Danced at Dawn_ worth a read? ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/7 "2009-02-19T13:57:57Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Is _The General Danced at Dawn_ worth a read? Yes, just don’t read it where laughing out loud will annoy other people! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/8 "2009-02-19T14:15:31Z")
Have you done the _Hornblower_ series? Have you considered writing the _Exhaustive Flashman Companion?_ A book the world truly needs. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/9 "2009-02-19T14:22:10Z")
The Sharpe series is sort of a non-humorous Flashman, aka Hornblower on land, aka Aubrey/Maturin also on land. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/10 "2009-02-19T14:37:19Z")
Which means that it is but a pale imitation of the real thing. No, there is but one Harry Flashman. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/11 "2009-02-19T16:45:29Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Have you done the _Hornblower_ series? > > Have you considered writing the _Exhaustive Flashman Companion?_ A book the world truly needs. Yes and No. 🙂 There is always [Fenwick Travers.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenwick_Travers) I almost finished one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/12 "2009-02-19T17:03:22Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Is _The General Danced at Dawn_ worth a read? Absolutely. 🙂 Other worthy reads: - _Black Ajax_ - Flashman’s dad makes a villanous appearance! Not just for boxing fans, but rather one of (IMO) his better serious works - I liked it better than _Mr. American_. - and in particular, _Quartered Safe Out Here_ - the author’s autobiography of his wartime experiences. A truly great wartime memoir in its own right, as well as an invaluable supplement to the _McAuslan_ series. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/13 "2009-02-19T19:22:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Which means that it is but a pale imitation of the real thing. No, there is but one Harry Flashman. It is neither pale nor an imitation. They are certainly not the same type of books. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/14 "2009-02-19T19:41:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It is neither pale nor an imitation. **They are certainly not the same type of books**. On that we heartily agree. I love Sharpe, but that series just isn’t Flashman. I wouldn’t think that just because someone likes Fraser that they would then like Cornwall. Totally different styles. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/15 "2009-02-19T19:50:43Z")
Very different styles, certainly, but they’re all the same genre. An as-yet-nameless one, as far as I know, but they’re related. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/16 "2009-02-19T20:33:25Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Very different styles, certainly, but they’re all the same genre. An **as-yet-nameless one** , as far as I know, but they’re related. Imperialist fiction? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/17 "2009-02-19T22:23:57Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Very different styles, certainly, but they’re all the same genre. An as-yet-nameless one, as far as I know, but they’re related. Sharpe and Flashman are in British army in the nineteenth century. There is a title _Flashman and the Tiger,_ as well as _Sharpe’s Tiger._ That’s about it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/18 "2009-02-19T22:56:24Z")
This is getting way off topic, but I would say that there’s an emerging genre of books based on the premise of having a fictional character join the armed forces and fight in (or, in Flashman’s case, at least be present for) a series of historically accurate battles or actions. We follow the main character as he rises through the ranks and gives us a first-person view of all these famous scenes of history. Hornblower was the first that I’m aware of, but the O’Brian books, the Sharpe series, and the Flashman series all do the same thing. Flashman is almost a parody of the style. Anyway, none of that actually matters. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/19 "2009-02-20T01:24:41Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > This is getting way off topic, but I would say that there’s an emerging genre of books based on the premise of having a fictional character join the armed forces and fight in > [@Smeghead](#): > > (or, in Flashman’s case, at least be present for) a series of historically accurate battles or actions. 🙂 I would include Patrick O’Brien and make the genre a subset of Historical Fiction. Flashman, the Cowardly, Dastardly Bastard as Protagonist, is surely a sub genre to his own. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503/20 "2009-02-20T04:24:00Z")
Reread them of course. Now that we have the Internet, I can look up all those historical references and flesh out Flashy’s contribution to world peace in a whole new perspective. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-read-all-the-flashman-books/486503.md?page=2)