March 30, 2005
Flashman in Ethiopia
George MacDonald Fraser's latest novel Flashman on the March has its "hero" Sir Harry Flashman, V.C. marauding through nineteenth century Ethiopia. He takes part in the 1868 battle of Maqdala, when British troops invaded Ethiopia to free a bunch of European captives imprisoned by Emperor Tewodros II. (The soldiers also stole lots of Ethiopian treasure while they were here - read all about it at AFROMET.) I have read quite a bit about the battle of Maqdala. Can't understand how I missed all those passages on "leather-clad nymphs with a penchant for torture" and "de-ballocking Amazons". Sounds like a good read.
Here is the Amazon synopsis:
Celebrated Victorian bounder, cad, and lecher, Sir Harry Flashman, V.C., returns to play his (reluctant) part in the Abyssinian War of 1868 in the long-awaited twelfth installment of the critically acclaimed Flashman Papers. 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 lovliest (and most savage) women in Africa, from leather-clad nymphs with a penchant for torture to de-ballocking Amazons and a voluptuous barbarian queen with a reputation for throwing disobliging guests to her pet lions?
Posted by aheavens at March 30, 2005 3:52 AM