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Flashman

The Flashman Papers, Book 1

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Flashman

By: George MacDonald Fraser
Narrated by: Colin Mace
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About this listen

Harry Flashman: the unrepentant bully of Tom Brown’s schooldays, now with a Victoria Cross, has three main talents – horsemanship, facility with foreign languages and fornication. A reluctant military hero, Flashman plays a key part in most of the defining military campaigns of the 19th century, despite trying his utmost to escape them all.

Flashman, soldier, duellist, lover, imposter, coward, cad and hero, triumphs in this first instalment of The Flashman Papers. His adventures as the reluctant secret agent in Afghanistan and his entry into the exclusive company of Lord Cardigan’s Hussars culminate in his foulest hour – his part in the historic disaster of the Retreat from Kabul.

This is the story of a blackguard who enjoyed villainy for its own sake. Shameless, exciting and funny, Flashman’s deplorable odyssey is observed with the cynical eye of a scoundrel who was honest only in reporting what he saw. He makes all other black sheep look respectable grey.

©2015 George MacDonald Fraser (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Espionage Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Sports War & Military Exciting Witty
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What listeners say about Flashman

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Brilliant

The entire flash series has been the most entertaining audiobooks I’ve ever listened too. I’d highly recommend these to anyone who’s got any interest in historical/military books and a good sense of humour.

Careful listening to it in the car when your in a car park as some sentences can lead people to assuming that you are a terrible person…

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3 people found this helpful

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excellent in every way.

hilarious, horrendous, spineless, immoral cad, in a truly superb adventure. Great narration. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is Interested in historically accurate epic story telling with a fictitious main character.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect

This literally couldn't have been written or told better. Loved it. Factually accurate and excellently told through the eyes of a real hero (or not!)

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing narration

I was a bit disappointed with the narrator. He wasn't terrible but many years ago I had an audible account and bought this book and really enjoyed it before you got to keep your old books when pausing your account. I decided to buy again but was confused that it wasn't as good as I remembered but have since discovered the original narrator was Timothy West who was, to my recollection, far superior. I think I'd have liked to have given the performance 3.5 stars really. Colin Mace was not terrible, he does the voices well but I had two issues with him. He tends to mumble in a bit of a bass between dialogue and then bellows when he is doing a character interaction which is quite irritating as you are left constantly jumping for the volume control. I also found something lacking in how he read the non-character interaction parts, hard to define but it felt a bit rushed or not so well told at any rate. Wish Timothy West was available to hear again to see if I'm imagining how much better he was :-/

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1 person found this helpful

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Fantastic

After finishing the Aubrey Maturin series, this was not a disappointment. Well worth a listen.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Flashman rides forth.....

I'm a fan of the Flashman books, and loved the Timothy West-narrated versions that used to be available. Sadly, only a few titles were ever released, so I've had to wait until now to be able to hear the rest of the stories in their full unabridged versions, now with Colin Mace in the narrators chair. The story itself is classic Flashman, the cowardly bully from Tom Brown's Schooldays, charting his expulsion from school to joining the Army and his adventures in Afghanistan. It's a perfect place to start.

For the narration, Colin Mace does a good job, whilst not *quite* reaching the level of sheer caddishness that Timothy West managed to convey. Mace sounds a little "younger" when narrating, which does sit a little awkwardly to the "fact" that this is an elderly Flashie telling of his adventures. I'd also add that he has a habit of speaking a little quieterwhen not conveying speech, which can sometimes make you keep adjusting the volume to try to hear everything without it being too loud. That wouldn't be a problem for listeners at home, but if you're listening in a car like I do, it can be a bit niggly to have to do this. It's a minor thing, though.

I'll definitely be adding others from the mace-narrated collection to my library.

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9 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Rip roaring storytelling at its best.

This is storytelling of the highest quality. Wins no awards for political correctness but scores highly for pleasure, humour and amusement.

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5 people found this helpful

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The flashman papers book 1

What an amazing tale, enjoyable and such light hearted humour. If you haven’t read flashman your missing out.

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  • Overall
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Excellent account, Flashie at his best!

Great story and narration! I love the non-politically correct colonial language, fully reflecting the era. Highly recommended - 5 stars!

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a favourite

the narration brings alive this classic novel. a fun satire on the empire with the anti hero squeaking thru history despite his cowardice

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