Flashman and the Tiger (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: golden ship, Franz Josef, Gordon Cumming, Orient Express (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Flashman and the Tiger is George MacDonald Fraser's 11th chronicle of Sir Harry Flashman, a "celebrated Victorian soldier, scoundrel, amorist, and self-confessed poltroon." Written with great wit and ingenuity, the series is presented as a succession of long-lost memoirs, which Fraser is simply editing for a modern readership. Thus does he interrupt Sir Harry's voice with footnotes, appendices, and tail-gunning apologies. Indeed, Fraser, whose editorial persona is humorless and academic, seems almost embarrassed in the presence of his subject's unbridled self-love.

This time the year is 1878, and Flashman is poking his nose into some deep political intrigue for a journalist friend who's done him various unsavory favors. Our favorite swashbuckler has just returned from Paris, where he was awarded the Legion of Honor. Yet readers familiar with Flashman's saga will know this is simply one more piece of tin to add to his capacious collection--and that even as he's revered by those around him, he finds it impossible to take himself seriously. Instead he regards himself as "one of those fortunate critters who ... are simply without shame, and wouldn't know Conscience if they tripped over it in broad day."

As usual, Flashman stumbles through history like a bull in a china shop. At the end of the first section, "The Road to Charing Cross," we realize that he's delayed the onset of World War I by various wranglings with the would-be assassins of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria. The following sections put him in contact with the Prince of Wales, a procession of remarkable whores, Zulu warriors, and yet more remarkable whores. Fraser's brashly perfect prose both fuels and awakens the imagination. And in the end the reader has to wonder: which wars almost came to pass, but were averted by a half-drunk war hero with a lust for life? --Emily White --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

P.G. Wodehouse said of the first Flashman novel that it was "the goods." Three decades and 11 "packets" of Flashman papers later, Fraser's indomitable Victorian scoundrel remains one of English literature's finest comic creations. This latest installment consists of three short adventures, all taking place in the late 19th century. In the first and longest episode, Flashy attends the Congress of Berlin, crosses paths with his old enemy Bismarck and gets dragged into a complicated plot to save Austria's Emperor Franz-Josef from assassination and Europe from world war. Not all the diplomatic intrigue is scintillating, but Fraser concludes on a strong note, sending Flashy off on yet another doomed military expedition just as he thinks he's home safe at last. Comic reversal figures as well in the second story, centered on a card-cheating scandal involving the prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. The hilarious exchange at the end between Flashman and his dizzy wife, Elspeth, is reminiscent of Bertie and Jeeves in their prime. In the final, title tale, Flashy, disguised as a poor drunk, sneaks into an empty London house to stop a certain Tiger Jack Moran from his evil plot to ravish Flashy's beloved granddaughter, only to find that two men, who look like "a poet and a bailiff," have ambushed the creep already. The deed done, Flashman listens as the "poet" makes some deliciously inaccurate deductions about the scruffy, drunk derelict, our hero. Throughout, Flashman alludes to disastrous exploits not yet published (Gordon at Khartoum, Maxmillian in Mexico, etc.). Readers can only hope that Fraser will enjoy the kind of longevity and productivity that defined the distinguished career of his mentor Wodehouse, and continue with this exceptional series. (Aug.) FYI: Fraser has written the screenplays for Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, as well as for the James Bond film Octopussy.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (November 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385721080
• ISBN-13: 978-0385721080
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #94,567 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Come on, George, let's do the U.S. Civil War one., August 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Flashman and the Tiger (Hardcover)

Any Flashy is better than almost anything else in historical fiction (and Flashy at his best is beyond that category). But this is the weakest of the lot. If you're new to Flashy, start w/ either "Flashman" or "Flashman at the Charge." After those two, you'll be so hooked that you'll overlook the inadequacies of this offering. And to branch out, read Fraser's war memoir, "Quartered Safe Out Here." It's the story of the young Fraser fighting in WWII in Burma w/ the Brits under Gen'l Slim. It is terrific. And, in the meantime, for an American reader (and we buy more of these books than the rest of the English speaking world combined) where is the U.S. Civil War one, which has been referenced repeatedly in earlier Flashmans?

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flashys back! Lock up your women!, August 16, 2000

By	John DiBello (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Flashman and the Tiger (Hardcover)

Rogue, coward, lecher, egotist, scoundrel: There was never such a colorful and outrageous character as Harry Flashman in literature (real life, now, that's another story!). The newest of the cult favorite Flashman Victorian historical novels is cause for celebration: as before, the irrepressible George MacDonald Fraser has `discovered' and `edited' Flashman's reminisces of three of his astounding, wild, and wench-filled adventures: a rematch against Flashman's nemesis Otto Bismarck (from one of the best of the Flashman novels, `Royal Flash,' itself a wicked parody of `The Prisoner of Zenda'), a gambling scandal involving (more deeply than history tells us) the Prince of Wales, and the one Fraser's fans have been waiting for: the long-promised encounter with Colonel `Tiger' Moran that casts a very different light on a certain arrogant Victorian detective and his toadying medical assistant.

Copious historical color and personalities mix Flashman in with the real-life persons and events of the time (and Fraser's always witty, thorough footnotes point out just exactly what was going on in history at the time). I learn more from every Flashman novel about history and war than I ever did from a textbook, and it's from a man whose point of view I can't help but admire: a coward who knows how to take credit where credit isn't due, to never pass up a chance for an amorous interlude, and that the best way to stay alive is to be miles away when the shooting starts.

Why four stars then, instead of five? The format--three novellas--is atypical for a Flashman adventure, and one that in my opinion made the book seem more like leftover pieces of Fraser's work than his intricate, elaborate full novels. For me, Flashy doesn't quite work as well in a shorter form: Fraser is a master of a long and involved historical adventure that builds and builds until it detonates into its cataclysmic conclusion, leaving no one unscathed except for Flashman, triumphant again. Even though we get three Flashman adventures, it paradoxically didn't seem enough. Flashman is larger than life and twice as lecherous; there's enough material in his history (and more important, Fraser's got the talent) to give us three different novels here.

If you're new to Flashman, try another of the Fraser books first ("Royal Flash" is always a good start), and come back to this later. Still, there's more than enough fun and roguery here to satisfy all but the most finicky Flashman fanatics, and even a slightly lesser Flash is head and shoulders above the rest. Even though Flashman would know much better than to stick up his head--unless they're passing out the booze, of course...

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History was never this much fun, August 4, 2000

By	Vincent Toolan (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Flashman and the Tiger (Hardcover)

It's extraordinary that American fans of modern literature's greatest poltroon (no, there's no translation of this word in today's English) are prepared to wait a whole year between the UK and US releases of their antihero's unfolding saga - especially in the age of the internet.

For those of you new to Fraser's creation, you can read the reviews of the other titles in the series. Enough to say they're a brilliant and unique mix of history, action and comedy.

This volume breaks with the tradition by presenting three short stories (rather than a single novel-length episode). The format suits the character particularly well. Each of the three stands alone, yet each also links to the other stories in the series. One describes the great Boer War skirmish of Rourke's Drift, with a surprise guest star from the Wild West. Another delves into the intricacies of late 19th Century politics, with French journalist spies, courtesans, and an early plot to assassinate Emperor Franz Josef (our hero naturally delaying an early start to WW I here).

Yet the undisputed star of the trio tells of Flashman's encounter with the other semi-mythical character of the era - Sherlock Holmes. The irony here is entrancing, as the two literary figures have so much in common - not least occupying worlds so superbly crafted you almost want to believe in them - and yet are polar opposites in temperament. The wit is glittering; the attention to historical detail is breathtaking; and the reader, as ever, is left wishing that the encounter had lasted just a little longer.

This is not the best Flashman to read if you're new to the character; but absolutely unmissable if you're already hooked.