Yes, that unabashed adventurer, shameless scoundrel and lustful libertine Flashman is back - racing away from danger in the greatest charge in hist...
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reviews
Mar 04, 2011
Louis
rated it: 
I bought the book decades ago. For many years I could never decide if it was 'real' or not. George Macdonald Fraser was a well-educated gentleman who as I recall, was in the Border Regiment, 17th Infantry Division. ('The Black Cats.') The whole package was so convincing, that even though it was clearly labeled 'fiction,' I honestly believed that he did that for safety reasons.
Harry Flashman is the bully 'Flashy' from 'Tom Brown's School Days,' and a self-described 'bully, a cad and a boor. More...
Harry Flashman is the bully 'Flashy' from 'Tom Brown's School Days,' and a self-described 'bully, a cad and a boor. More...
Jun 25, 2011
Fuzzy
rated it:
OK, I'm going to stop protesting about how disturbed I am by Flashman and all of his terrible, terrible behavior, because obviously something is keeping me reading the series. I can't tell if Fraser has toned down Flashman's terribleness, or if I'm just getting used to him. Flashman at the Charge finds our (anti-)hero in the Crimean war and eventually at the battle immortalized in Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade. And when I say immortalized, you know of course that I mean I'd heard of
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Jun 19, 2010
Erin
rated it: 
i read this one on the recommendation of a customer back when i still worked at a bookstore... we'd been discussing great books and i'd mentioned i love the russians. he emphatically determined i should read something from the flashman papers series and selected this one -- flashman at the charge. he even bought it for me.
i wondered why this one sparked his enthusiasm so strongly, and recently decided to read it. it's fun, kind of swashbuckling read... there's war and action and More...
i wondered why this one sparked his enthusiasm so strongly, and recently decided to read it. it's fun, kind of swashbuckling read... there's war and action and More...
Jul 27, 2011
Strey
rated it: 
The fourth 'packet' & the best yet! George MacDonald Fraser manages to set the scene, put things into historical context & get things off to a cracking pace in the space most other authors have just about named their characters... or they would take the whole of book one of a trilogy to achieve the same!
We're into the 'Charge of the Light Brigade' and out the other side before we know it...and the story doesn't let up until the very last page. A geographical & historical Smorgasbord More...
We're into the 'Charge of the Light Brigade' and out the other side before we know it...and the story doesn't let up until the very last page. A geographical & historical Smorgasbord More...
May 07, 2008
Raegan
rated it:
Harry Flashman turns up in Balaclava and get himself mixed up in the Charge of the Light Brigade! Another excellent blend of humor and history. These books are the greatest!
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Nov 25, 2011
Eric
rated it:
What I'd call early-middle period Flashman. Fraser was still courting mass popularity with this series of novels (this one was serialized in Playboy) and hadn't quite found the right balance of history and bawdy adventure. The story doesn't have the strength of the Flashman or Royal Flash as an adventure story, and it doesn't have the strength of Flash for Freedom as a historical novel. It was by emphasizing the history and telling it from Flashman's skewed but honest perspective that Fraser mad
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Dec 10, 2010
Max
rated it:
Originally published in serialized form in the pages of Playboy, this quick Flashman novel feels like a tease for a grander tale. Flashman heads to the Crimea where he documents the lightning flash charge of the Light Brigade and then is whisked off to the Ukraine for a cold imprisonment. Because it was serialized it reads with more cliffhangers and repeating tempo and there is a romp or a squeeze occurring like clockwork. But what are the Flashman papers other than porn for gents? 1970's Playbo
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Aug 16, 2011
An ok light read. I had expected it to be funny, well at least humourous, maybe it was a mistake reading it when I was sober but I didn't find it amusing.
Awkward book in three distinct parts, the transition from the first to the second is mildly plausible - but really would a PoW been held at a private house, never mind I don't think you're meant to think about the details here. The transition to the third part is bad with genuine hero wakes up in a dungeon to find himself imprison More...
Awkward book in three distinct parts, the transition from the first to the second is mildly plausible - but really would a PoW been held at a private house, never mind I don't think you're meant to think about the details here. The transition to the third part is bad with genuine hero wakes up in a dungeon to find himself imprison More...
May 14, 2011
Gerhardt
rated it:
Another solid Flashman installment; great fun and I loved every bit of it! It's difficult to say too much without providing spoilers, but I enjoyed this one more and more as it went along. If there's a downside, I feel it tends to wrap up rather fast, but this is characteristic of these novels. There was also a confrontation that I felt went unresolved, but perhaps that's saved for another entry in the series?
I think that the degree to which you'll enjoy this depends entirely on you More...
I think that the degree to which you'll enjoy this depends entirely on you More...
Jan 18, 2012
Nathan
rated it:
In which Flash gets caught up in the Crimean War, gets captured by the Russians and ends up saving India for the Empire. What struck me most in this volume is that Fraser makes a very clear apology to the Light Brigade for including the famous craven Flash in their number (being 600). Otherwise, it's a standard Flash tale. Running away, getting the wenches, running away again and somehow saving himself and a greater cause. He certainly had quite a life. Rated M for adult themes, moderate sex sce
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Jan 07, 2012
Michele
rated it:
This is the best Flashman by far, for my money: fast, funny, outrageous. Flashy is at the top of his game, surviving not only the Charge of the Light Brigade (and the Heavy Brigade, for that matter) but also a hashish-fuelled berserker raid to blow up two barges loaded with weapons and ammunition to prevent the "Ruskis" from taking India away from the British. I laughed until I cried at his account of farting his way through the hail of bullets and cannon at Balaclava, and I have abs
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Jan 29, 2012
Ensiform
rated it:
Flash signs on to munitions duty as the Crimean War begins to heat up, never suspecting that one day he will unwillingly take part in Colin Campbell’s stand and Scarlett’s charge uphill of the Heavy Brigade, not to mention the infamous charge of the Light Brigade... And then be captured, become an unwilling spy and resistance fighter, and of course bed a Russian noble’s beautiful daughter... All in a day’s work for old Flashy, of course, who would rather be at home.
I have little to s More...
I have little to s More...
Jul 22, 2009
russell
rated it:
The problem with Flashman (other than the fact GMF was as awful a misogynist you imagine - but ignore), is some of the books a perfect wholes in tales, structure and derring-do, and others are a mish-mash of seemingly a number of stories. Flashman at the Charge falls into the latter category, and along with Royal Flash is one I've always struggled with.
Strangely though, I like all three segments of the book - Crimea/Russia/Middle East - it's just each could've made a bigger and bett More...
Strangely though, I like all three segments of the book - Crimea/Russia/Middle East - it's just each could've made a bigger and bett More...
Aug 04, 2011
Jansen
rated it:
Astounding. Its simply amazing how Flashman can find himself so often in the thick of trouble (and usually the historically significant hotspots), and equally amazing how he wriggles out safely, and even looking good each time. And all in the name of self-preservation. From the heart of the Balaclava battle to the saving of India from the Russians, Flashman suffers through, and soldiers on, unwillingly and unwittingly.
Sep 10, 2008
Wendell
rated it:
George Macdonald Fraser's rather unique hero (the obnoxious bully of Thomas Hughes' pious Victorian classic TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS, reborn as a dashing, lustful paladin of the British Empire who's secretly one of the most cowardly scoundrels available in literature) had perhaps his best and most interesting outing in this 1973 novel. Forced through a ridiculous set of circumstances to join British forces in the Crimean War, Flashman survives the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava and Russi
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Jun 11, 2009
Stanley
rated it:
Every Flashman book is a dangerous, rowdy romp through history with one of her Majesty the Queen's most famous, daring and self-serving cowards! James Bond has nothing on Harry Flashman, except for courage and the Astin-Martin. Be careful, once you meet Harry S. Flashman, you will follow him to the very last book's last page. FYI - there are many books.
Aug 07, 2010
Edward
rated it:
While not strictly "alternate history" in the usual use of the genre the Flashman books retell history so that it's usually very different from the official accounts, which have been all concocted to show the bravery and heroism of Flashy. Scallywag, cad and bounder of the first order.
Must get some more of these.
Must get some more of these.
Aug 04, 2010
Christopherseelie
rated it:
Another great adventure with the scoundrel himself. This one has a lot of build up in England with one of the most devastating uses of the person-hidden-behind-a-screen I've ever seen. Sexual intrigue aside, the depictions of "the thin red line" and the charge of the light brigade are top notch military action. And the long way home that follows brings Flashman into contact with the worst in human kindness.
Jun 02, 2011
Tom
rated it:
It's bluff Harry, doing his fake hero and full time poltroon thing again. And it's as good as ever, with everything you expect from a Flashman novel. Even if you're not interested in Imperial history, it's still a good read, and you can get away with a sexist, racist hero if it's the nineteenth century.
Jul 26, 2011
Michael
rated it:
One of the best Flashmans I've read. The charge of the Light Brigade, Russia, Afghanistan, bandits, and nefarious plots. Flashy is up to his neck, trying to survive, ready to betray anyone, surrender anything, doublecross anyone to save his own hide - and he still ends up a hero. Astonishingly well researched, these books are a mile of fun.
Mar 16, 2011
Simon
rated it:
The bit where Flashman inadvertently takes part in the charge of the light brigade is absolutely hilarious. A great book from an excellent series of funny, historically vivid books. The preposterous yet hugely likeable anti-hero Flashman is a wonderful character.
Mar 15, 2011
Ajj
rated it:
The adventures that Flashman has up around the Aral Sea in this book exposed me to a whole culture and center of conflict that I was unaware of. The kingdoms that Chabon explored in "Gentlemen of the Road" were still there to mess with the Russians.
Jan 31, 2012
Ramon
rated it:
This is the first Flashman book I read, years ago, and is probably my favorite for that reason. I've got about everything Fraser wrote. Great style. Quite amusing. Very English/Scot. Flashman is a bounder, a scoundrel, a horndog, awesome.
Dec 16, 2009
Jest
rated it:
Flashman in Russia!
One of the things I really love about the Flashman novels is how they stir up an interest in a historical period which I know very little about. In this case I think Yakub Beg and Izzat Kutebar sort of steal the show from what should have been pretty exciting stuff in the Crimea but it's all great reading just the same.
Favourite moments include Flashy catching his wife with Lord Cardigan and the escape-by-sleigh-pursued-by-wolves.
As alwa More...
One of the things I really love about the Flashman novels is how they stir up an interest in a historical period which I know very little about. In this case I think Yakub Beg and Izzat Kutebar sort of steal the show from what should have been pretty exciting stuff in the Crimea but it's all great reading just the same.
Favourite moments include Flashy catching his wife with Lord Cardigan and the escape-by-sleigh-pursued-by-wolves.
As alwa More...
Aug 30, 2011
Ellis
rated it:
The finest of the Flashman papers, well worth a read if you're into fun books with a solid grounding in history.
Feb 20, 2011
Megan
rated it:
I found this in the clearance bin at the bookstore, and thought it looked fun. An excellent bawdy adventure at a bargain price! I found it highly entertaining, and the scene immediately before the Light Brigade charges had me hooting.
Jun 20, 2010
Ak-75
rated it:
Can't go wrong with the Flashman Chronicles. Comedy, suspense and historical knowledge all in one read.
Aug 23, 2009
Matthew
rated it:
By far my favorite Flashman book to date. I think by this point Fraser figured out how to make Flashman likable rather than just rotton. The historical context of the Crimean War was quite interesting as I had no prior knowledge of it at all. His portrayal of the Russians is quite unflatering and it was slightly disconcerting to be accused of taking part in an anti-slavic conspiracy while in the depths of this novel. There were parts of this book that had me abolutely gripping my sides with pain
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Jan 23, 2010
Tara
rated it:
Flashman fights in the Crimean War, is held prisoner in Russia, returns to Central Asia.
Mar 01, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
Either this one or the Great Game are my favorites. Can't decide which.
