The Flashman Papers

[mash101]

Exactly how authentic are 'The Flashman Papers' by George Macdonald Fraser? The author strongly contends that they are the memoirs of the Harry Flashman who was expelled in 'Tom Brown's Schooldays', which were found in a chest in a Midlands sale room. Are the 'Flashman Papers' complete fiction based around
historical characters/events, or is Mr Fraser's claim true?

[Waterwolf]

I took a creative writing course several years ago, and the tutor mentioned these once. As I recall, he said that Fraser looked for instances in history where the main actor/person was unknown, stuck Flashman in the gap and wrote a story about it. Besides, wasn't Flashman a fictional character created by Thomas Hughes? That would make the 'Flashman Papers' historical fiction -- and Fraser's claim a fictional rationale for the existence of his stories

[andy hughes]

The Flashman character created by George Macdonald Fraser is indeed the villain of 'Tom Brown's School Days' by Thomas Hughes - the bully having left Rugby School and moved on to a miliatry career, it's an interesting literary angle to adapt a known character to a new scenario, and apparently a successful one.

[Waterwolf]

Yes -- so the contention of Fraser's that Mash101 mentions is not a claim to historical authenticity, just a statement of what his stories are intended to be.

[Lindsey]

My dad loves the Flashman series, and has always remarked on the meticulous research that must have gone into them to create such historically accurate situations for Flashman to inhabit. He's a history teacher so I guess he knows what he's talking about! However, Flashman himself is a fictional character, so it's entirely inauthentic yet quite postmodern . . .