The Complete Flashman Series, comprising: Flashman – Signed, Royal Flash, Flash for Freedom!, Flashman at the Charge, Flashman in the Great Game, Flashman's Lady, Flashman and the Redskins, Flashman and the Dragon, Flashman and the Mountain of Light, Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, Flashman and the Tiger, and Flashman on the March -
George MacDonald Fraser
1969-2005 - Herbert Jenkins, London - First Editions
A complete set of the magnificent Flashman series, featuring Victorian anti-hero Harry Flashman, the caddish bully of Tom Brown's School days who was expelled in drunken disgrace from Rugby school in the late 1830's, soldier, duellist, lover, impostor, coward, cad and hero?, this is the story of a blackguard who enjoyed villainy for it’s own sake.
For the sake of your enjoyment here is a summary of each book, which just touches the surface of what some, including Mr. Lok Man himself, consider to be the greatest way to learn the history of the British Empire from the 1830’s through to the 1890’s.
All first editions in superior dust jackets than usually encountered, and with the first volume signed by George MacDonald Fraser. 1. ‘Flashman' - The first volume of the Flashman Papers, this is the story of Flashies early career, after being expelled in drunken disgrace from Rugby school in the late 1830, from his entry into the exclusive company of Lord Cardigan's hussars to his exile in India, his adventures as a reluctant secret agent in Afghanistan, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, his scandalous behaviour in bed and battle, and his foulest hour when he takes part in the historic disaster of the Retreat from Kabul', the last stand at Gandamak and the siege of Jellalabad). Historic figures include Wellington, Queen Victoria, Dr. Arnold, Cardigan and Akbar Khan.
2. ‘Royal Flash’ – 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, the dastardly Otto Von Bismarck, and against the most beautiful and unscrupulous adventuress of the era, femme fatale Lola Montez. 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.
3. ‘Flash for Freedom!’ – A game of cards leads Flashman from the jungle death-house of Dahomey to the slave state of Mississippi. When 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? From slave driver and potential slave, to a slave stealer assisted by a young Abraham Lincoln and members of the Underground Railway, our hero Flashman shows true charm, cowardice, treachery, lechery and fleetness of foot - apparently, according to Flashy his escape inspired the novel ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’.
4. ‘Flashman at the Charge’ – Regaling us with further episodes in the life of Harry Flashman, the caddish bully of Tom Brown's School days who was expelled in drunken disgrace from Rugby school in the late 1830's. This instalment is set during the Battle of Balaclava. Quite amazingly, our dashing, and reluctant leader is at the head of the light brigade..... As with his previous adventures, Flashman at the Charge is rich in those qualities which one him honour and fame in his own time and have endeared him to hosts of loyal admirer since - cowardice, treachery, lechery and an unfailing instinct for survival, coupled with his own caustic humour and unsparing honesty as a historian.
5. ‘Flashman in the Great Game’ – What Caused the Indian Mutiny, the watershed of the British Empire? Greased cartridge, religious fanaticism, political blundering, Dalhousie, Nana Sahib? One hitherto unsuspected factor is now revealed - Flashman, the craven hero of Afghanistan, the flatulent paladin of Balaclava, the man who outwitted Bismark, baffled Lincoln, fluttered female hearts from Nashville to Nanking, and gave cowardice a new respectability, was there again, passing through his most harrowing ordeal to his supreme triumph, with Courage, Duty and Honour toiling dispiritedly in his wake. Present at the Indian Mutiny, the Rani of Jhansi, the Cawnpore Massacre, the siege of Lucknow, Flashman was required to perform heroically in this conflict and was awarded the Victoria Cross and a knighthood. But the publication of Tom Brown's Schooldays with its portrayal of Flashman as a coward and bully spoiled his satisfaction.
6. ‘Flashman's Lady’ – Spanning 1842-45. Flashman accepts an invitation from his old enemy, Tom Brown of Rugby, to join in a friendly cricket match, little suspecting that he is letting himself in for the most desperate game of his scandalous career so far. Without revealing too much, Flashman plays against the great Nicholas Felix, Fuller Pilch ( greatest batsman ever known until the appearance of W. G. Grace), and the giant Alfie Mynn. As Bernard Darwin eulogised - “And with five such mighty cricketers 'twas but natural to win, As Felix, Wenman, Hillyer, Fuller Pilch and Alfred Mynn”. Needless to say, what follows is a deadly struggle that sees Flashie scampering from the hallowed wicket of Lord’s to the jungle lairs of Borneo Pirates alongside young Rajah Brooke, and from Singapore’s vice dens to slavery in the palace of ‘the female Caligula’ herself, Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar.
7. ‘Flashman and the Redskins’ – 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 arch-cad's adventures in America during Gold Rush of 1849 and the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, and his acquaintance with famous Indian chiefs, American soldiers, frontiersmen and statesmen.
8. ‘Flashman and the Dragon’ – It is 1860, and while China seethes through the bloodiest civil war in history and the British and French armies of Lord Elgin hack their way to the heart of the Forbidden City, Flash Harry hoodwinks them all.
Fresh from the Indian Mutiny, Flash Harry, self-confessed coward, womanizer, and scoundrel, finds himself landed in "Manchoo" China torn by the Taiping Rebellion. The redoubtable Flashy scrapes through many dangerous and disagreeable situations in this chaotic setting. Emerging as usual unscathed, with public (if not private) honour intact, Sir Harry recounts his memories of the Summer Palace and the Yi Concubine (later Empress Tzu-hsi). He winds up witnessing Elgin's destruction of Peking's Summer Palace, an act of vengeance described with horrifying vividness.
9. ‘Flashman and the Mountain of Light’ – Spanning 1845-46, with the mighty Sikh Khalsa, the finest army ever seen in Asia, poised to invade India and sweep Britannia’s ill-guarded empire into the sea, every able-bodied man was needed to defend the frontier – and one at least had his answer ready when the Call of Duty came: ‘I’ll swim in blood first!’ Alas, though, for poor Flashman, there was no avoiding the terrors of secret service in the debauched and intrigue-ridden Court of the Punjab, the attentions of its beautiful nymphomaniac Maharani (not that he minded that, really), the horrors of its torture chambers or the baleful influence of the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond, the Mountain of Light.
10. ‘Flashman and the Angel of the Lord’ – Relating the bizarre concatenation of events that lead Colonel Sir Harry Flashman, K.C.B., V.C., to join John Brown’s uprising at Harper’s Ferry whilst at the same time working for the U.S. government as an agent provocateur. A turn of events set in motion by a flirtatious hussy in a Calcutta hotel.
11. ‘Flashman and the Tiger’ – Three stories – 'The Road to Charing Cross' (1878 and 1883-4), in which Harry helps out a "human ferret", Times correspondent Henri Blowitz, to get a remarkable scoop at the Congress of Berlin, only to find himself rewarded by a nasty encounter with Bismarck; 'The Subtleties of Baccarat' (1890 and 1891), Flash helps Bertie the Bounder (that's the future Edward VII to you) deal with a case of suspected "stake-padding" by a senior military man; and 'Flashman the Tiger' (1879 and 1894) our hero is "in Zulu country" on the path of "Tiger" Jack Moran (thanks to Fraser's fastidious endnotes, properly identified as an assassin in the employ of Sherlock Holmes's nemesis, Moriarty.)
12. ‘Flashman on the March’ – We find our hero fleeing from Mexican bandits, rebels and the French Foreign Legion in Mexico at the end of the French occupation; and subsequently from the relatives of an infatuated Austrian beauty.
Flash was in urgent need of somewhere to take cover - even if it meant a perilous secret mission in disguise to the court of a voluptuous African queen with a weakness for stalwart adventurers (whom she occasionally threw to her pet lions). Will Flashman survive whilst rescuing hostages during the British invasion of Abyssinia?
Twelve octavo volumes (book sizes 21.7x14.3cm; 21.8x14.5cm; 22.3x14.7cm; 21.8x14.5cm; 21.8x14cm; 22.4x14.2cm; 22.1x16.1cm); pp. 256; 261 [3]; 295 [1]; 286 [2]; 336; 328; xii [2] 15-479 [1]; 320; 367 [1]; 394 [2 (short reviews for earlier Flashman novels)] [2]; 319 [1]; x [2] 317 [7]. In publisher's red cloth (’Tiger’ in black), spines lettered in silver to the first 6 titles, and in gilt for the remaining titles, maps for endpapers (blank for 'Mountain of Light’, 'Angel of the Lord’, & ’Tiger’). Dust jacket priced to lower corners at: 25s and with SBN 257.66799.7'; ‘25s' and with 'SBN 257.66799.7'; ‘30/- (Decimal £1.50)’; ‘£1.75 NET’; ‘£2.25 net'; ‘£3.95 net’; ‘£4.50 net’; ‘£7.95 net'; ‘£9.95 net’; export jacket without price; ‘£15.99 net’; ‘£16.99’; ‘£17.99 $39.95’. Condition: Fine (’on the March’ with light foxing to fore-edge), in near fine to fine dust jackets, a few with a hint of sunning to the spine, generally far nicer examples than usually encountered. Ref: 112393 Price: HK$ 28,000
For the sake of your enjoyment here is a summary of each book, which just touches the surface of what some, including Mr. Lok Man himself, consider to be the greatest way to learn the history of the British Empire from the 1830’s through to the 1890’s.
All first editions in superior dust jackets than usually encountered, and with the first volume signed by George MacDonald Fraser. 1. ‘Flashman' - The first volume of the Flashman Papers, this is the story of Flashies early career, after being expelled in drunken disgrace from Rugby school in the late 1830, from his entry into the exclusive company of Lord Cardigan's hussars to his exile in India, his adventures as a reluctant secret agent in Afghanistan, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, his scandalous behaviour in bed and battle, and his foulest hour when he takes part in the historic disaster of the Retreat from Kabul', the last stand at Gandamak and the siege of Jellalabad). Historic figures include Wellington, Queen Victoria, Dr. Arnold, Cardigan and Akbar Khan.
2. ‘Royal Flash’ – 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, the dastardly Otto Von Bismarck, and against the most beautiful and unscrupulous adventuress of the era, femme fatale Lola Montez. 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.
3. ‘Flash for Freedom!’ – A game of cards leads Flashman from the jungle death-house of Dahomey to the slave state of Mississippi. When 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? From slave driver and potential slave, to a slave stealer assisted by a young Abraham Lincoln and members of the Underground Railway, our hero Flashman shows true charm, cowardice, treachery, lechery and fleetness of foot - apparently, according to Flashy his escape inspired the novel ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’.
4. ‘Flashman at the Charge’ – Regaling us with further episodes in the life of Harry Flashman, the caddish bully of Tom Brown's School days who was expelled in drunken disgrace from Rugby school in the late 1830's. This instalment is set during the Battle of Balaclava. Quite amazingly, our dashing, and reluctant leader is at the head of the light brigade..... As with his previous adventures, Flashman at the Charge is rich in those qualities which one him honour and fame in his own time and have endeared him to hosts of loyal admirer since - cowardice, treachery, lechery and an unfailing instinct for survival, coupled with his own caustic humour and unsparing honesty as a historian.
5. ‘Flashman in the Great Game’ – What Caused the Indian Mutiny, the watershed of the British Empire? Greased cartridge, religious fanaticism, political blundering, Dalhousie, Nana Sahib? One hitherto unsuspected factor is now revealed - Flashman, the craven hero of Afghanistan, the flatulent paladin of Balaclava, the man who outwitted Bismark, baffled Lincoln, fluttered female hearts from Nashville to Nanking, and gave cowardice a new respectability, was there again, passing through his most harrowing ordeal to his supreme triumph, with Courage, Duty and Honour toiling dispiritedly in his wake. Present at the Indian Mutiny, the Rani of Jhansi, the Cawnpore Massacre, the siege of Lucknow, Flashman was required to perform heroically in this conflict and was awarded the Victoria Cross and a knighthood. But the publication of Tom Brown's Schooldays with its portrayal of Flashman as a coward and bully spoiled his satisfaction.
6. ‘Flashman's Lady’ – Spanning 1842-45. Flashman accepts an invitation from his old enemy, Tom Brown of Rugby, to join in a friendly cricket match, little suspecting that he is letting himself in for the most desperate game of his scandalous career so far. Without revealing too much, Flashman plays against the great Nicholas Felix, Fuller Pilch ( greatest batsman ever known until the appearance of W. G. Grace), and the giant Alfie Mynn. As Bernard Darwin eulogised - “And with five such mighty cricketers 'twas but natural to win, As Felix, Wenman, Hillyer, Fuller Pilch and Alfred Mynn”. Needless to say, what follows is a deadly struggle that sees Flashie scampering from the hallowed wicket of Lord’s to the jungle lairs of Borneo Pirates alongside young Rajah Brooke, and from Singapore’s vice dens to slavery in the palace of ‘the female Caligula’ herself, Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar.
7. ‘Flashman and the Redskins’ – 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 arch-cad's adventures in America during Gold Rush of 1849 and the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, and his acquaintance with famous Indian chiefs, American soldiers, frontiersmen and statesmen.
8. ‘Flashman and the Dragon’ – It is 1860, and while China seethes through the bloodiest civil war in history and the British and French armies of Lord Elgin hack their way to the heart of the Forbidden City, Flash Harry hoodwinks them all.
Fresh from the Indian Mutiny, Flash Harry, self-confessed coward, womanizer, and scoundrel, finds himself landed in "Manchoo" China torn by the Taiping Rebellion. The redoubtable Flashy scrapes through many dangerous and disagreeable situations in this chaotic setting. Emerging as usual unscathed, with public (if not private) honour intact, Sir Harry recounts his memories of the Summer Palace and the Yi Concubine (later Empress Tzu-hsi). He winds up witnessing Elgin's destruction of Peking's Summer Palace, an act of vengeance described with horrifying vividness.
9. ‘Flashman and the Mountain of Light’ – Spanning 1845-46, with the mighty Sikh Khalsa, the finest army ever seen in Asia, poised to invade India and sweep Britannia’s ill-guarded empire into the sea, every able-bodied man was needed to defend the frontier – and one at least had his answer ready when the Call of Duty came: ‘I’ll swim in blood first!’ Alas, though, for poor Flashman, there was no avoiding the terrors of secret service in the debauched and intrigue-ridden Court of the Punjab, the attentions of its beautiful nymphomaniac Maharani (not that he minded that, really), the horrors of its torture chambers or the baleful influence of the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond, the Mountain of Light.
10. ‘Flashman and the Angel of the Lord’ – Relating the bizarre concatenation of events that lead Colonel Sir Harry Flashman, K.C.B., V.C., to join John Brown’s uprising at Harper’s Ferry whilst at the same time working for the U.S. government as an agent provocateur. A turn of events set in motion by a flirtatious hussy in a Calcutta hotel.
11. ‘Flashman and the Tiger’ – Three stories – 'The Road to Charing Cross' (1878 and 1883-4), in which Harry helps out a "human ferret", Times correspondent Henri Blowitz, to get a remarkable scoop at the Congress of Berlin, only to find himself rewarded by a nasty encounter with Bismarck; 'The Subtleties of Baccarat' (1890 and 1891), Flash helps Bertie the Bounder (that's the future Edward VII to you) deal with a case of suspected "stake-padding" by a senior military man; and 'Flashman the Tiger' (1879 and 1894) our hero is "in Zulu country" on the path of "Tiger" Jack Moran (thanks to Fraser's fastidious endnotes, properly identified as an assassin in the employ of Sherlock Holmes's nemesis, Moriarty.)
12. ‘Flashman on the March’ – We find our hero fleeing from Mexican bandits, rebels and the French Foreign Legion in Mexico at the end of the French occupation; and subsequently from the relatives of an infatuated Austrian beauty.
Flash was in urgent need of somewhere to take cover - even if it meant a perilous secret mission in disguise to the court of a voluptuous African queen with a weakness for stalwart adventurers (whom she occasionally threw to her pet lions). Will Flashman survive whilst rescuing hostages during the British invasion of Abyssinia?
Twelve octavo volumes (book sizes 21.7x14.3cm; 21.8x14.5cm; 22.3x14.7cm; 21.8x14.5cm; 21.8x14cm; 22.4x14.2cm; 22.1x16.1cm); pp. 256; 261 [3]; 295 [1]; 286 [2]; 336; 328; xii [2] 15-479 [1]; 320; 367 [1]; 394 [2 (short reviews for earlier Flashman novels)] [2]; 319 [1]; x [2] 317 [7]. In publisher's red cloth (’Tiger’ in black), spines lettered in silver to the first 6 titles, and in gilt for the remaining titles, maps for endpapers (blank for 'Mountain of Light’, 'Angel of the Lord’, & ’Tiger’). Dust jacket priced to lower corners at: 25s and with SBN 257.66799.7'; ‘25s' and with 'SBN 257.66799.7'; ‘30/- (Decimal £1.50)’; ‘£1.75 NET’; ‘£2.25 net'; ‘£3.95 net’; ‘£4.50 net’; ‘£7.95 net'; ‘£9.95 net’; export jacket without price; ‘£15.99 net’; ‘£16.99’; ‘£17.99 $39.95’. Condition: Fine (’on the March’ with light foxing to fore-edge), in near fine to fine dust jackets, a few with a hint of sunning to the spine, generally far nicer examples than usually encountered. Ref: 112393 Price: HK$ 28,000