George Macdonald Fraser - Author
About the Author
The author of the famous ‘Flashman Papers’ and the ‘Private McAuslan’ stories, George MacDonald Fraser worked on newspapers in Britain and Canada. In addition to his novels he also wrote numeous films, most notably ‘The Three Musketeers’, ‘The Four Musketeers’, and the James Bond film, ‘Octopussy’. He died in January 2008.
Featured books by George Macdonald Fraser
The Reavers
The author admits this book is nonsense, and meant to be. It is also the most enormous fun. Peopled with over-the-top characters, some speaking in almost impossible to read dialects, and all confronted with ridiculous situations in their bid to save/destroy England, it is a real ‘piss-take’ of the bodice ripper-cum-swashbuckling romp. Some of the modern references to Elizabethan attitudes are truly hilarious. Fans of his other ridiculous work, Pyrates, will know what they are in for. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Flashman on the March
Harry Flashman: the unrepentant bully of Tom Brown's schooldays, now with a Victoria Cross, has three main talents - horsemanship, facility with foreign languages and fornication. A reluctant military hero, Flashman plays a key part in most of the defining military campaigns of the 19th century, despite trying his utmost to escape them all. Many have marvelled at General Napier's daring 1868 expedition through the treacherous peaks and bottomless chasms of Abyssinia to rescue a small group of British citizens held captive by the mad tyrant Emperor Theodore. But the vital role of Sir Harry Flashman, V.C., in the success of this campaign has hitherto gone unrecorded. Flashman's undeserved reputation for heroism renders him the British Army's candidate of choice when it comes to skulking behind enemy lines in Ali Baba attire. After all, who but the great amorist could contemplate navigating a land populated by hostile tribes and the loveliest (and most savage) women in Africa, from leather-clad nymphs with a penchant for torture to a voluptuous barbarian queen with a reputation for throwing disobliging guests to her pet lions?
Flashman
Harry Flashman: the unrepentant bully of Tom Brown's schooldays, now with a Victoria Cross, has three main talents - horsemanship, facility with foreign languages and fornication. A reluctant military hero, Flashman plays a key part in most of the defining military campaigns of the 19th century, despite trying his utmost to escape them all. Flashman, soldier, duellist, lover, imposter, coward, cad and hero, triumphs in this first instalment of The Flashman Papers. His adventures as the reluctant secret agent in Afghanistan and his entry into the exclusive company of Lord Cardigan's Hussars culminate in his foulest hour - his part in the historic disaster of the Retreat from Kabul. This is the story of a blackguard who enjoyed villainy for its own sake. Shameless, exciting and funny, Flashman's deplorable odyssey is observed with the cynical eye of a scoundrel who was honest only in reporting what he saw. He makes all other black sheep look respectable grey.
Other books by George Macdonald Fraser
Quartered Safe Out Here
'There is no doubt that [Quartered Safe Out Here] is one of the great personal memoirs of the Second World War' John Keegan Life and death in Nine Section, a small group of hard-bitten and (to modern eyes) possibly eccentric Cumbrian borderers with whom the author, then nineteen, served in the last great land campaign of World War II, when the 17th Black Cat Division captured a vital strongpoint deep in Japanese territory, held it against counter-attack and spearheaded the final assault in which the Japanese armies were, to quote General Slim, torn apart .
The Light's On At Signpost
From the author of the ever-popular Flashman novels, a collection of film-world reminiscences and trenchant thoughts on Cool Britannia, New Labour and other abominations. George MacDonald Fraser has been a newspaperman, soldier, novelist (Flashman), and screenwriter. In a career spanning thirty years and encompassing films such as Octopussy and The Three Musketeers he worked with some of the Hollywood greats (Steve McQueen, Schwarzenegger, Fellini, Burt Lancaster, Charlton Heston). Here his reminiscences of those years are interspersed with an 'Angry Old Man's' view of Britain today, featuring blistering attacks on New Labour, Brussels and Cool Britannia.
Flashmans Feldzug
Der vorliegende Roman ist der 11. und letzte, den George MacDonald Fraser geschrieben hat. Beim Erscheinen des Buches, das im Hardcover mehr verkaufte als jeder Flashman-Roman zuvor, war er 80 Jahre alt und bestens in Form. Zuvor hatten einige Kritiker behauptet, Flashy sei in den letzten Bchern weiser und milder geworden. Fraser dazu: Ich glaube, er ist etwas erwachsener geworden. Das hat zweifellos mit meinem eigenen Alterungsprozess zu tun. Aber ich denke nicht, dass er netter geworden ist."e; Und wie stand er zu Flashman? Ich lebe jetzt mit ihm seit fast vierzig Jahren. Ich habe natrlich groe Empfindungen fr ihn, aber ich glaube nicht, dass ich ihn sehr gemocht htte. Aber ich teile seine allgemeinen philosophischen Ansichten. Ich bin eher Zyniker und glaube nicht an das Gute im Menschen."e;Tatschlich neigt Flashy im Sptwerk zu milderen Ansichten. Flashmans Feldzug gehrt zu den interessantesten der Serie und veranlasste den amerikanischen Schriftsteller John Updike zu einer Wrdigung. Fraser war inzwischen eine anerkannte literarische Gre und erfreute sich gerade unter Historikern groe Popularitt. Die thiopien-Expedition, die unter die Little Wars"e; des Empires eingeordnet wird, gehrte zu den obskursten Unternehmungen der Briten. Bei uns ist dieser Feldzug fast unbekannt, was umso mehr verwundert, da unter den Geiseln und Zeugen sowohl Deutsche, sterreicher und Schweizer waren. Es gibt einige Parallelen zur heutigen Kriegsfhrung: Als Geiselbefreiungsaktion gilt er als erste groe humanitre Intervention der Weltgeschichte. Deutlich zeigt sich in ihm die in der zweiten Hlfte des 19.Jahrhunderts beginnende Industrialisierung des Krieges. Durch die Teilnahme zahlreicher Journalisten war der Feldzug auch ein frhes Beispiel des embedded journalism"e;. Wissenschaftler unterschiedlicher Disziplinen begleiteten die Armee, um Kulturgter zu rauben und Erkenntnisse ber ein unbekanntes Land zu gewinnen.
Flashman und der Engel des Herrn
Hastig den Ruckzug aus dem Boudoir einer Dame anzutreten, wenn man mit einer leichtfertigen jungen Frau in flagranti erwischt wird, ware eine normale Reaktion, aber wenn sich herausstellt, dass der Ehemann ein hoher Richter ist, dann ist es angesagt, Kalkutta schnell zu verlassen. Und so tritt Flashman eine Reise an, auf der er in Sudafrika gekidnappt und nach Amerika verschifft wird. Sein Ziel: eine kleine Stadt in Virginia namens Harper's Ferry, wo John Brown und seine Gruppe von Radikalen planen, den ersten Schuss im Krieg gegen die Sklaverei abzufeuern - mit Harry Flashman in der Rolle des militarischen Beraters. Und wenn John Brown auf Flashman gehort hatte, wurde er immer noch marschieren statt im Grab zu verwesen ('John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave').
Candlemass Road
This is a beautiful, moving tale from the bestselling author of the "e;Flashman Papers"e;. To the young Lady Margaret Dacre, raised in the rich security of Queen Elizabeth's court, the Scottish border was a land of blood and brutal violence, where raid and murder were commonplace, and her broad inheritance lay at the mercy of the outlaw riders and feuding tribes of England's last frontier. Beyond the law's protection, alone but for her house servants and an elderly priest, she could wait helpless in her lonely manor, or somehow find the means to fight the terror approaching from the northern night!
Black Ajax
In the spirit of Flashman and in the inimitable George MacDonald Fraser style comes a rousing story of prize fighting in the 19th century. Reissued in a stunning new package, Black Ajax will attract a new generation of fans. When Captain Buck Flashman sees the black boxer catch a fly in mid-flight he realizes that he is in the presence of speed such as the prize ring has never seen. Tom Molineaux may be crude and untutored, but if 'Mad Buck' knows anything (and like his notorious son, the archcad Harry Flashman, he has an unerring eye for the main chance), this ex-slave from America is a Champion in the making, on whose broad shoulders the ambitious Captain can climb to sporting and social fame. Under his patronage, the 'Black Ajax' is carried on a popular tide of sporting fever to his great dream: to fight the invincible, undefeated Champion of England, the great Tom Cribb. The story of Molineaux and his eventual battles with Cribb is told through a series of superbly original and individual voices - colourful, powerful and funny. Together they create a magnificent picture of Regency England and a portrait of a flawed hero who surmounted the barriers of ignorance, poverty and race hatred to bring the prize ring a lustre it had never known before, and may never again.
Captain in Calico
The first unpublished novel from the historical fiction legend, George Macdonald Fraser, featuring the unscrupulous and brilliantly entertaining pirate, Calico Jack Rackham. New Providence, 1720s. When infamous pirate Captain 'Calico' Jack Rackham returns from the high seas to ask Governor Woodes Rogers for a royal pardon, the Governor sees his chance to put his own devious plans into action. Their agreement sets off an adventure of betrayals, counter-betrayals, plots and escapes that see Rackham join forces with the scheming but seductively beautiful pirate, Anne Bonney. Captain in Calico is a wonderfully spirited and entertaining novel, which will delight fans of George MacDonald Fraser. The unscrupulous Captain Rackham is pure pleasure, and shows the author's early penchant - and flair - for writing scoundrels of the highest order.
Pyrates
Now available in ebook format, 'The Pyrates' is a swashbuckling romp of a novel. The Pyrates is all the swashbucklers that ever were, rolled into one great Technicoloured pantomime - tall ships and desert islands, impossibly gallant adventurers and glamorous heroines, buried treasure and Black Spots, devilish Dons and ghastly dungeons, plots, duels, escapes, savage rituals, tender romance and steaming passion, all to the accompaniment of ringing steel, thunderous broadsides, sweeping film music, and the sound of cursing extras falling in the water and exchanging period dialogue. Even Hollywood buccaneers were never like this.
Mr American
Repackaged to tie-in with hardback publication of 'The Reavers' and to appeal to a new generation of George MacDonald Fraser fans, 'Mr American' is a swashbuckling romp of a novel. Mark Franklin came from the American West to Edwardian England with two long-barrelled .44s in his baggage and a fortune in silver in the bank. Where he had got it and what he was looking for no one could guess, although they wondered - at Scotland Yard, in City offices, in the glittering theatreland of the West End, in the highest circles of Society (even King Edward was puzzled) and in the humble pub at Castle Lancing. Tall dark and dangerous, soft spoken and alone, with London at his feet and a dark shadow in his past, he was a mystery to all of them, rustics and royalty, squires and suffragettes, the women who loved him and the men who feared and hated him. He came from a far frontier in another world, yet he was by no means a stranger... even old General Flashman, who knew men and mischief better than most, never guessed the whole truth about "e;Mr American"e;.
Flashman at the Charge (The Flashman Papers, Book 7)
Harry Flashman: the unrepentant bully of Tom Brown's schooldays, now with a Victoria Cross, has three main talents - horsemanship, facility with foreign languages and fornication. A reluctant military hero, Flashman plays a key part in most of the defining military campaigns of the 19th century, despite trying his utmost to escape them all.Celebrated Victorian bounder, cad, and lecher, Sir Harry Flashman, V.C., returns to play his (reluctant) part in the charge of the Light Brigade in this of the critically acclaimed Flashman Papers.As the British cavalry prepared to launch themselves against the Russian guns at Balaclava, Harry Flashman was petrified.But the Crimea was only the beginning: beyond lay the snowbound wastes of the great Russian slave empire, torture and death, headlong escapes from relentless enemies, savage tribal hordes to the right of him, passionate females to the left of him...Then, finally, that unknown but desperate war on the roof of the world, when India was the prize, and there was nothing to stop the armed might of Imperial Russia but the wavering sabre and terrified ingenuity of old Flashman himself.
Flashman and the Redskins
Harry Flashman: the unrepentant bully of Tom Brown's schooldays, now with a Victoria Cross, has three main talents - horsemanship, facility with foreign languages and fornication. A reluctant military hero, Flashman plays a key part in most of the defining military campaigns of the 19th century, despite trying his utmost to escape them all. What was Harry Flashman doing on the slopes of Little Bighorn, caught between the gallant remnant of Custer's 7th Cavalry and the attack of Sitting Bull's braves? He was trying to get out of the line of fire and escape yet again with his life (if not his honour) intact. Here is the legendary and authentic West of Mangas Colorado's Apaches, of Kit Carson, Custer and Spotted Tail, of Crazy Horse and the Deadwood stage, gunfighters and gamblers, scoundrels and Indian belles, enthusiastic widows and mysterious adventuresses. The West as it really was: terrifying!
Flash for Freedom! (The Flashman Papers, Book 5)
Flashman must choose - politcs in London or slave trading in Africa - not that it matters really in this hilarious third installement of the Flashman PapersWhen Flashman was inveigled into a game of pontoon with Disraeli and Lord George Bentinck, he was making an unconscious choice about his own future - would it lie in the House of Commons or the West African slave trade? Was there, for that matter, very much difference?Once again Flashman's charm, cowardice, treachery, lechery and fleetness of foot see the lovable rogue triumph by the skin of his chattering teeth.
Flashman and the Mountain of Light
Books 4-6 in George MacDonald Fraser's uproarious bestselling Flashman series, now available in one ebook for the first time. FLASHMAN AND THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT: 1845-1846 Given the choice between defending Britannia's frontier against the mighty Sikh army and pleasuring a ravishing maharani in the Court of the Punjab, Flashman knew where he'd rather be. Of course, that was before he found out about the torture chambers or the malevolent influence of the Mountain of Light... FLASH FOR FREEDOM!: 1848-1849 Flashman seems destined for the House of Commons, until his political ambitions are scuppered by a crooked game of pontoon with Disraeli (with someone else, doing the cheating for a change!) Forced to flee London, he boards a vessel bound for the United States - via the African slave coast. Before the odyssey ends, Flashy will encounter an assortment of interesting Yanks including a New Orleans madam and a young Mr Lincoln... FLASH AND THE REDSKINS: 1849-50 / 1875-76 With charges of slave-stealing, slave-trading, false pretences and murder hanging over him, Flashman is desperate to leave New Orleans. So desperate that when a besotted brothel keeper invites him to lead a wagon train of whores bound for the California goldfields, he jumps at the chance.
Royal Flash (The Flashman Papers, Book 2)
In Volume II of the Flashman Papers, Flashman tangles with femme fatale Lola Montez and the dastardly Otto Von Bismarck in a battle of wits which will decide the destiny of a continent.In this volume of The Flashman Papers, Flashman, the arch-cad and toady, matches his wits, his talents for deceit and malice, and above all his speed in evasion against the most brilliant European statesman and against the most beauiful and unscrupulous adventuress of the era.From London gaming-halls and English hunting-fields to European dungeons and throne-rooms, he is involved in a desperate succession of escapes, disguises, amours and (when he cannot avoid them) hand-to-hand combats.All the while, the destiny of a continent rests on his broad and failing shoulders.
Flashman und der Chinesische Drache
Der inzwischen mit dem Viktoriakreuz ausgezeichnete Colonel Harry Flashman taucht in der britischen Kronkolonie Hongkong auf (1860). Was zunachst wie ein kleiner Nebenverdienst"e; vor seiner Heimreise aussieht - eine Schiffsladung Opium in chinesisches Hoheitsgebiet schmuggeln - entwickelt sich unversehens zu einem atemlosen Abenteuer: In China herrscht Burgerkrieg, die Tapings erheben sich gegen die dekadente Herrschaft des Mandschu-Kaisers in Peking. Die Gromachte England und Frankreich versuchen ihre Interessen zu wahren; der ewige Zauderer und Hasenfu aus Passion Flashman naturlich mitten drin. Auch fur diesen Band gilt: Lesen bildet. Vom Opiumschmuggel bis zum Niederbrennen des Sommer-Palastes in Peking ist Flashman der Zeuge der historischen Ereignisse.
Flashman Papers: The Complete 12-Book Collection
George MacDonald Fraser's uproarious bestselling Flashman series, now available in one complete ebook for the first time.THE COMPLETE FLASHMAN PAPERS is the entire collection of Flashman's perilous missions across the world. Spanning from 1839 right through to 1894 the incorrigible Flashman fears all evil and when it comes to voluptuous queens and princesses he has be known to waver from his mission. Filled to the gunnels with escapades of unwavering excitement THE COMPLETE FLASHMAN PAPERS will quench even the most ravenous appetite for Flashman.
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