I envy you for experiencing what I did in 1990 when a chauffer at the US Embassy, London lent me with the words, "Ere, Martin. 'Erd you like 'istry. Try this. Ee's a real chancer!" And so it proved. Coincidently, Upper Brook Street (where Flashy's London home was for decades) was where the US Embassy on Grosvenor Square had it's north side on. Word of warning = read Flash for Freedom; Flashman and the Redskins, Flashman and the Tiger in that order. They're closely connected. Ditto:- Flashman, Royal Flash, Flashman's Lady, Flashman, Flashman and the Mountain of Light. Ditto:- Flashman at the Charge, Flashman in the Great Game, Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, Flashman and the Dragon, Flashman on the March. That way you won't get "spoilers" . By luck I did this.
@@hastiestone3951 Yes he's a fictional character but many of the events he gets mixed up in are real. Certainly this one is, the little-known first British Afghan war. In any case what difference does that make to it being an astounding story?
Now 67, I see that the world is full of Flashman's. And also fools in charge such as his accurate accounts of Elphinstone and others, and also, people easily taken by superficial appearances. Flashmans' good looks and utter lack of ethics stood him in good stead. These are gret stories and follow history well and in an engaging fashion.
This is so strange. My husband calls me the Queen of Coincidence. I have a little copy of Tom Brown's School Days. I never look at it or hear mention of it in any media. Yesterday I came across it on the bookshelf and wondered if it was worth anything. It's really old. Then in the evening I started listening to this and sure enough... Tom Brown's School Days comes up. Now if only there was a horse running somewhere called Tom Brown! I must reread it, it's been a long time.
These books changed my life, sparked interest in history and made any form of social media completely redundant, I am currently working on a flash man tattoo
“I thrashed him early on in our acquaintance and he thought all the better of me for it, like a dog to his master”, classic flashman. I’d say he’s one of my two favourite comic characters of all time, the other being Alan partridge. Why no one has made a series of it is beyond me. Who would play the guy would be critical though.... they’d probably make him all woke and caring!
Flashy's accts of history are more interesting because they come from an individual, and also a rascal - coward, liar, and bully- the total opposite of the unrealstic typical hero of similar stories from the 1800's and first half of the 20th. He's fun and the hstory comes in without any effort.
They made one, Royal Flash, starring Malcolm McDowell, Oliver Reed, Alan Bates, Britt Eklund, Bob Hoskins, Rula Lenska, David Jason, Roy Kinnear and a cameo by Henry Cooper. It’s actually free on RU-vid
I think that you'll find that it's a hearty "Hurrah" with the groin thrust there! Best candidate to ever play Flash in a film version... unfortunately the opportunity was never taken and now it's too late.
My brother -in -law introduced us to these when we were all young. Unfortunately, he'd taken them at face value and was so disappointed to be told that they weren't real. Think that the rest of his life was devoted to trying to be a poor man's Flashman.
The publishers of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels are planning on editing (read: censoring) them to make them more suitable for "modern audiences." How much work would they have to do with the Flashman novels?
Loved it! Learned a lot of history! And realise that the pic behind the wonderfully smirking Flashy in the picture is ‘’The Last Stand’’ by William Barnes Wollen (1898) , of the 44th Regiment … ‘…I just pitched in with the rest’ ( oh Flashy!) 🤣 @7.18.22
@@Charmagh110 I know who Gore is. A tiny bit about his work. I watched the Tom Wolfe show the night Norman Mailer challenged him to a bare knuckle boxing match. The FDR reference is my own. I have been working on for a long time.
It's possible he has, but he's kept such a constant schedule of appearances in London theater that I don't know if he had much time to be out of the country. I suspect he's just a very educated and interested man in the former empire. There is an episode of Great Canal Journeys where he and his wife go to India, maybe he talks about it there. Been a long time since I've watched those but they're very good.
