Point of View

Author George MacDonald Fraser uses the octogenarian Sir Harry Flashman, retired as a Brigadier-General from the British Army early in the 20th century, as a memorialist reviewing a long and seemingly illustrious career. Fraser claims to be just a technical editor who also adds historical and cultural endnotes to help the reader. The present novel is the seventh part of the cache of "Flashman Papers," discovered late in the 20th century by Fraser. It follows chronologically the third and portrays Flashy's adventures in the American Wild West, first during the Gold Rush of 1849, and then a quarter-century later, in 1875/76.

Flashy assumes that readers are familiar with his exploits, ranging over his entire career and reminding them continually of how his reputation as an intrepid hero is at odds with reality. Somehow something always seems to come along to put him in harm's way. Flashy readily admits...