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    Flash for Freedom!
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    Flash for Freedom!
    Unavailable
    Flash for Freedom!
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Flash for Freedom!

    Written by George MacDonald Fraser

    Narrated by Rupert Penry-Jones

    4/5

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    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    A game of cards leads Flashman from the jungle death-house of Dahomey to the slave state of Mississippi as he dabbles in the slave trade in Volume III of the Flashman Papers.

    When Flashman was inveigled into a game of pontoon with Disraeli and Lord George Bentinck, he was making an unconscious choice about his own future – would it lie in the House of Commons or the West African slave trade? Was there, for that matter, very much difference?

    Once again Flashman’s charm, cowardice, treachery, lechery and fleetness of foot see the lovable rogue triumph by the skin of his chattering teeth.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 19, 2012
    ISBN9780007505654
    Unavailable
    Flash for Freedom!
    Author

    George MacDonald Fraser

    The author of the famous ‘Flashman Papers’ and the ‘Private McAuslan’ stories, George MacDonald Fraser has worked on newspapers in Britain and Canada. In addition to his novels he has also written numeous films, most notably ‘The Three Musketeers’, ‘The Four Musketeers’, and the James Bond film, ‘Octopussy’. George Macdonald Fraser died in January 2008 at the age of 82.

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    Reviews for Flash for Freedom!

    4/5

    18 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Flashman becomes involved in slave trafficking and freeing slaves when his adventures take him to Africa and America. Good lecherous fun in the classic series.
    • 3/5
      Flash is framed for cheating at cards and forced on to slave ship owned by his father in law. Much time on the run in US, meets young Lincoln.
    • 3/5
      Discovering Flashman has been my highlight for 2010. Fraser’s skills as a novelist and historian is such that he created a character who remains ultimately likeable, despite his treatment of women. There have been many such men in life – why not in art? Flash for Freedom in the first, and perhaps most disturbing, of the American Flashman adventures.
    • 4/5
      Not for the easily offended, Flashman's narrative shows quite a bit of the offhand racism we might expect from a Victorian. But he's also honest and acknowledges merit where he finds it--so long as it isn't the high-principled kind.
    • 5/5
      To me, this is the best of the Flahman series, the one that persuaded me to go on reading them after finding the original Flashman too daastardly and Royal Flash disgusting (I happen to love Prisoner of Zenda and could not bear the parody. Besides, it got Bismarck's politics wrong for the time in question.) In Flash for Freedom, though, Flashy is less dastardly and actually does help a slave escape and wins the approval of Abe Lincoln; in this one, as in some later ones, he really is more of a ppicaresque hero --lecherous and unheroic, but not as consistently caddish as in the first volume.
    • 4/5
      Fraser's great naughty character Flashman presents a narrative of the whole slave trade from the British financiers to the source in the kingdom of Dahomey in Africa, the trans-Atlantic voyage, slave markets, New Orleans brothels, plantations and the underground railroad that transported slaves out of the United States to safety in Canada. As always, Fraser triggers interest in learning more about some of the characters and stories told. Especially the king of Dahomey and his Amazon warrior corps picked my interest. I also wonder whether in 1849, there already existed a distinct Texan accent (however unlikely it would have been for an upper class Englishman to fake it so convincingly to fool Southerners).True to the topic, the author uses one gimmick I wished he did not have made such frequent use: the n-word. In 1971, this might not have had the shock value it does now, but the contrast between censoring swear words and an abundance of n-words is off-putting.The quest for authenticity might have gone too far. Abraham Lincoln also emerges in a far better light than he was in reality. In 1849, his journey towards emancipation had only begun. He had always believed in the moral wrongness and inhumanity of slavery but his political views were pragmatic if not conservative. He was not a firebrand but often, quietly, leading from behind.Overall, an enjoyable read with very good pacing and stitching together of very different locations.
    • 4/5
      If you are keeping track, this is the third installment of the Flashman papers "owned" by Mr. Paget Morrison. To recap the first two packets of papers (published in 1969 & 1970): Flashman has been expelled from Rugby School, served in the British army and survived a skirmish with Otto von Bismark. The third packet picks up in the year 1848 and seems to be initially edited by Flashman's sister-in-law, Grizel de Rothchild as the swearwords are heavily edited and the sex is practically nonexistent (unheard of for our Harry, but don't worry - it picks up!). This time Harry's adventure focuses on a trip to America (Washington and New Orleans) where he meets Abraham Lincoln, gets caught up in the slave trade (with the underground railroad and as a salve runner), and par for the course, nearly loses his life several times over. Once again, it's a woman who saves his bacon.
    • 4/5
      Our intrepid hero, Harry Flashman, is back for volume three of the Flashman Papers, a narrative of the life and times of one of the most ne’er-do-well wastrels to ever grace the pages of a published autobiography.This installment picks up where the second volume left off; Harry returns from his Continental adventures, having matched wits with one of the greatest statesmen of the 19th century, Otto von Bismarck, and changed the course of European history as a result. Soon, however, Flashman once again finds himself in a pickle, as a result of his roguish behavior. Forced to flee polite society until the resulting scandal blows over, Flash is relegated to crewing aboard a slaver, as it plies its trade on the African subcontinent and into Caribbean waters. Following capture by the U. S. Navy, his adventures continue in the American South, where he is constantly on the move, just one step ahead of his presumptive captors. As has become the custom in Harry’s autobiographies, well known historical events pepper his experiences, as Abraham Lincoln plays a starring role in this adventure.As in the previous two Flashman novels, our Harry is revealed as the premier coward and opportunist of his era; faults which he quite willingly admits and even boasts of. In one of his numerous, desperate scrapes, his self directed exhortation captures the true Flashman spirit: “…-bristle up the courage of the cornered rat, put on the bold front, and to hell with them. Bluff, my boy- bluff, shift and lie for the sake of your neck and the honour of Old England.” Uproariously funny and entertaining, this installment is every bit the equal of its predecessors.
    • 4/5
      After a gambling scandal involving a woman (of course), Flashman is forced into the slave trade by his horrible father-in-law. Then he finds himself forced into rescuing slaves along the underground railroad. Along the way he meets Abraham Lincoln, who sees through that lying old Flashy, but likes him anyway. Although this is another raucous, gawdy, naughty Flashman adventure, Fraser doesn't neglect his history. If a callous old cad like Flashman can be horrified by the trade there may be hope for him yet.
    • 3/5
      Flashman goes through the whole Slave trade cycle, being shanghai'd onto a slaver, and traveling to Africa. the destination of the cargo is New Orleans so then he escapes his boss and the South with an attractive female fellow escapee. Then it is up the Mississippi to meet with Abraham Lincoln before getting back to Blighty. Good fun.
    • 3/5
      The character of Flash is pure scoundrel. MacDonald writes about him in such a way to amuse and entertain the reader. It was a quick, succinct read. It was also easy to follow. Nevertheless, the book does not hold long-standing value in the larger scheme of what composes literature.

      3 stars.