The Flashman Papers

The series consists of twelve historical fiction books written by the journalist, author and screenwriter George MacDonald Fraser, that were published between 1969 and 2005.

The series consists of eleven novels and one collection of short stories, spanning from 1839 to 1894; they are the memoirs of the fictional character General Sir Harry Paget Flashman, VC, KCB, KCIE.

Based on a literary conceit, an explanatory note—itself also fictional—at the start of Flashman sets the context and explains that the memoirs had been found in an auction house in Ashby, Leicestershire, and had subsequently come into the possession of Fraser, who has acted in the role of editor.

[8] When the novel was published in the US the same year, of the 34 reviews read by Alden Whitman of The New York Times, ten of them considered the book to be a genuine autobiography.

[15] Despite joining the army after expulsion from school, Flashman is a self-confessed coward with a false reputation for bravery, earned at the expense of others, and despite him trying to avoid danger at all costs.

[16] He is also "a scoundrel, a drunk, a liar, a cheat [and] a braggart",[7] who was described by Fraser as "an unrepentant old cad" whose only positive features are "humour and shameless honesty as a memorialist".

[15] Flashman notes that he has three "prime talents, for horses, languages, and fornication";[21] he was also described by the master-at-arms of the 11th Hussars as a strong swordsman[22] and was skilled with a lance, particularly at tent pegging.

While the books cover some of the awards—such as being given the Victoria Cross for his actions during the sieges of Cawnpore and Lucknow[24]—some stories are not known, such as how and why he served on both sides of the American Civil War and how he won the Medal of Honor.

[25][d] During his travels Flashman meets people who took part in 19th-century events, including Queen Victoria, Abraham Lincoln, Otto von Bismarck, Oscar Wilde and Florence Nightingale, and he is involved as a participant in some of the century's most notable events, including the Indian Rebellion, the Taiping Rebellion, the charge of the Light Brigade, the Siege of Khartoum, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry and the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Despite being attacked by a band of Comanche on the journey, they reach Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Flashman absconds with $2,000 made from selling one of the prostitutes, Cleonie, to Navajos.

Flashman joins in but refuses to take any scalps or rape captive women, and when the scalp-hunters are attacked by the remainder of the tribe, he is saved and marries Sonsee-Array, the daughter of chief, Mangas Coloradas.

Flashman also appears in another book by Fraser, Mr American, age 88,[55] while his father was one of the financial backers of the bare-knuckle boxer Tom Molineaux in Black Ajax.