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    Flashman and the Angel of the Lord
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    Flashman and the Angel of the Lord
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    Flashman and the Angel of the Lord
    Audiobook12 hours

    Flashman and the Angel of the Lord

    Written by George MacDonald Fraser

    Narrated by Colin Mace

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    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.

    If only Flashman had got on with his dinner and ignored the handkerchief dropped by a flirtatious hussy in a Calcutta hotel … Well, American history would have been different, a disastrous civil war might have been avoided, and Flashman himself would have been spared one of the most hair-raising adventures of his misspent life.

    If only … But, alas, the arch-rotter of the Victorian age could never resist the lure of a pretty foot. This latest extract of the Flashman Papers soon finds Flashman careering towards the little Virginian town of Harper’s Ferry, where John Brown and his gang of rugged fanatics were to fire the first shot in the great war against slavery.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 25, 2015
    ISBN9780007593439
    Unavailable
    Flashman and the Angel of the Lord
    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 Flashman and the Angel of the Lord

    4/5

    174 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Sagt Ihnen der Name Taiping etwas? Die Hauptstadt von Taiwan, meinen Sie? Nein, das w?re Taipei.Die Taiping waren eine chinesische Sekte, die Ansichten vertrat, die man durchaus als sozialistisch bezeichnen konnte. Sie wurden von einem Mystiker angef?hrt, der durch seine Visionen zur gottgleichen Gestalt aufstieg und vor hatte das Kaiserreich zu st?rzen.Der Taiping-Aufstand gilt als blutigster B?rgerkrieg der Weltgeschichte. 20-30 Millionen Menschen sollen darin ums Leben gekommen sein. Und Sie haben tats?chlich nichts davon gewusst? Haben Sie im Geschichtsunterricht etwa geschlafen?Nur ein kleiner Scherz, wahrscheinlich haben Sie das, ?hnlich wie wir, damals gar nicht durchgenommen, schlie?lich geschah das ja weit weg, am anderen Ende der Welt. Und die Beteiligten waren ja sowieso nur Chinesen, lustige, kleine gelbe M?nnlein mit langen Z?pfen. Wieso sollte sich auch ein deutscher Sch?ler f?r soetwas interessieren? Weshalb mir diese Materie ebenso neu war.Harry Flashman hat ein besonderes Talent zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort zu sein. Auch diesmal landet er mitten in der H?lle eines blutigen Gemetzels.Nat?rlich finden sich auch dort sch?ne Frauen, ob Banditinnen oder Prinzessinnen, jede erliegt dem Charme Flashys, des gro?en Draufg?ngers. Pardon, ich meinte nat?rlich des elenden Feiglings, der ?ber die beste PR der Weltgeschichte verf?gt.Die Handlung mag nicht sonderlich innovativ sein. Flashman wird gefangengenommen, er entkommt, ger?t wieder in die Klauen irgendwelcher Feinde, windet sich jedes Mal mit List und Gl?ck heraus und bleibt selbstverst?ndlich am Ende wieder der gro?e britische Kriegsheld.Er begegnet dem Anf?hrer der Taipings, hat eine Liebesaff?re mit einer chinesischen Prinzessin und ist auch bei der wohl unr?hmlichsten Episode des Krieges dabei: der Zerst?rung des Sommerpalastes, der Sommerresidenz der chinesischen Kaiser. Ein ehemals wunderbares Werk der Landschaftsarchitektur, das g?nzlich vom Erdboden verschwunden ist.Sie k?nnen also nicht gleich mal auf Google Earth gehen und nachschauen: Ah, der Sommerpalast! Wie wunderbar! Es ist nichts mehr da. Nicht mal ein Stein, ein Kr?mel, ein Staubkorn wurde ?briggelassen. Aber h?ren Sie selbst:??denn jetzt muss ich Ihnen von einem der wunderbarsten Dinge erz?hlen, die ich je gesehen habe, einem Wunder, das den Vergleich mit jedem anderen auf Erden standh?lt ? und niemand wird es jemals wieder sehen. Es gibt viele sch?ne Dinge auf der Welt, die meisten von ihnen Werke der Natur ? ein Sonnenuntergang am Colorado, D?mmerung ?ber dem S?dchinesischen Meer, ? k?hles Mondlicht in der Sahara, eine englische Waldung nach dem Regen. Der Mensch kann nichts schaffen, was dem gleichk?me, doch ein einziges Mal kam er ihm nach Meinung dieses Kritikers so nahe, dass ich mit dem Unterschied nicht hausieren gehen m?chte. Und es wurde vollbracht durch zartestes und unendlich geduldiges Formen der Natur, wie es wahrscheinlich nur chinesische K?nstler und Handwerker haben zustande bringen k?nnen. ?Wie Sie vielleicht geh?rt haben, war es gar kein Palast, sondern ein acht Meilen langer Garten ? doch ein Garten war es auch nicht. Es war ein M?rchenland, und wie soll man das beschreiben? Ich kann nur sagen, dass in dieser weiten Parklandschaft, die sich bis zu fernen, im Dunst liegenden H?geln dehnte, jede Sch?nheit der Natur und der menschlichen Architektur in einer Harmonie der Formen und Farben miteinander verschmolz, die so vollkommen war, dass es einem den Atem verschlug und man nur dasitzen und staunen konnte. Ich kann von vielem reden: Von bewaldeten Hainen; von samtigen Rasenfl?chen; von Seelabyrinthen und Inseln mit Pavillons darauf; von Tempeln, Sommerh?usern und Pal?sten, von schimmernden D?chern aus gelbem Porzellan, die durch Bl?tter von dem dunkelste Gr?n zu sehen waren; von tr?gen Fl?ssen, die sich durch W?lder schl?ngelten; von Wasserf?llen, die leisen in Kaskaden bemooste Felsen herabfielen; von Blumenfeldern, von Kieselwegen, die sich an Marmorbecken vorbei wanden, wo Font?nen wie silberne Nadeln in der Sonne spielten; von Hirschen, die anmutig unter gespreizten zweigen weideten; von Br?cken mit Weidenmotiven; von finsteren H?hlen, in denen bleiche goldene Statuen schwach in der Dunkelheit leuchteten; von Lotosteichen auf deren Wasser Schw?ne schliefen ? ich kann all das niederschreiben und hinzuf?gen, dass es in einem gro?artigen Panorama, soweit das Auge reichte, wie ein gro?er magischer Teppich ausgebreitet dalag, und was f?r eine Vorstellung vermittelt es? So gut wie gar keine; m?glicherweise klingt es sogar abgeschmackt und ?bertrieben. Aber sehen Sie, ich kann nicht beschreiben, wie eine zarte Farbschattierung in eine andere ?bergeht und beide zusammen in eine dritte, die ?berhaupt keine Farbe ist, sondern ein einziges Leuchten; ich kann nicht zeigen, wie die Rundung eines Tempeldaches mit den Zweigen, die ihn einrahmen, oder der Landschaft, die ihn umgibt, harmoniert; ich kann Ihnen nicht die Anmut eines schmalen Pfades vor Augen f?hren, wie er sich zwischen Inseln eines Flusses entlangschl?ngelt, der selbst ein weicher, von sich stets wandelnden Reflexionen ges?umter Spiegel ist; ich kann nicht sagen, wie das Kr?useln des Wassers unter dem Bug eines langsam dahingleitenden Vergn?gungsbootes dazu bestimmt scheint, die Formen des Bootes mit denen des Sees und der Seerosenbl?tter abzurunden, und sich seit Anbeginn der Zeit zu kr?useln scheint. Ich kann nur sagen, dass all diese Dinge sich in einer gro?en einhelligen Vollkommenheit miteinander verbanden, die einfach unglaublich war, und verdammt kostspielig ebenfalls. ?Dieses Wunderwerk diente einzig der Freude des Kaisers und seines Hofes; kein anderer Besucher bekam es jemals zu Gesicht, was vielleicht ganz gut so war, weil ich annehmen w?rde, dass es bei weitem die reichste Schatzkammer war, die es jemals auf Erden gegeben hat.?Ja, hier wird selbst Flashman zum Dichter. Wie dieses Weltwunder der Verw?stung preisgegeben wird, ist eines der seltsamsten und traurigsten Aspekte des B?rgerkrieges.Das Buch ist voller wunderbarer flashmanscher Weisheiten:?Es ist wundersam, was f?r eine Wirkung das Pl?ndern auf Soldaten hat. Ich nehme an, einmal in ihrem elenden Leben empfinden sie wirkliche Macht ? nicht die Macht zu t?ten, die kennen sie sehr gut, das ist nur brutale Gewalt gegen einen menschlichen K?rper -, sondern die gr??ere Macht, eine Sch?pfung des Geistes zu zerst?ren, etwas, das sie nie und nimmer zustande bringen k?nnten.??Das ist das gro?artige an der Politik und der Grund daf?r, dass die Welt solch ein gr?sslicher Ort ist: Der Mann, der die Politik macht, braucht sie nicht auszuf?hren, und der Mann, der sie ausf?hrt ist nicht verantwortlich f?r die Politik.?Martin Compart bemerkt in seinem Nachwort, dass das Buch bei seinem Erscheinen umstritten war, weil Fraser kein allzu schmeichelhaftes Bild der Chinesen zeichnet (sie werden fast ausnahmslos als grausam und hinterh?ltig beschrieben) und wenig Kritik am britischen Imperialismus ?bt. Das scheint mir allerdings die typische Emp?rung politisch korrekter Gutmenschen zu sein. Macdonald Fraser war sicher kein Liberaler im modernen Sinn, aber er verf?gte ?ber einen sehr klaren politischen Sachverstand und sah sehr genau, wozu Menschen jeglicher Couleur oder Rasse f?hig sind und wie falsche Entscheidungen der M?chtigen Millionen ins Ungl?ck st?rzen k?nnen. Auch dieser Flashman bietet wieder gro?artige Unterhaltung.
    • 4/5
      Necessary disclaimer: I am a huge fan of the Flashman series and George Macdonald Fraser (check out his McAuslan in the Rough). I've now read eight of the Flashman books (in chronological order 1-4, 7-8, 10 & 12). Nonetheless, I struggled to fully enjoy Flashman and the Dragon - in large part because of its questionable historical accuracy. Having narrowly escaped personal disaster whilst running 'opium' to Canton, Harry Flashman finds himself unhappily engaged in the British service on a couple of errands as an intelligence officer. First, Harry sails up to Nanking where he meets the leader of the Taiping Rebellion, a Chinese gentleman claiming to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ. Along the way he manages a vigorous romp or two with Triad bandit leader Szu-zhan. After another miraculous escape, Harry heads north with Lord Elgin and the closing chapter of the Second Opium War. Flashy again manages to get himself captured. This time he's imprisoned in the Forbidden City where the Lady Yehonala (better known as the Dragon Lady or Dowager Empress Ci Xi) makes a nocturnal visit - just to have a peek at the barbarian - with predictable results. Harry escapes one final time and arrives back in 'Pekin' in time to witness the final negotiations to end the war and then the release of Harry Parkes as well as the discovery of a number of murdered British prisoners. Elgin decides to burn down the imperial Summer Palace as payback. All well and good for a typical Flashman tale, but I found myself distracted by the grotesque way in which the book portrays the Chinese and the Manchu. This distraction came not not only from Flashman's 'papers, but also to the end notes. I expect Harry to express broadly, if cynical, pro-British Empire 19th century views, but expect a little more intellectual honesty from Fraser. The Chinese and Manchu are presented without exception - either singly or in combination - as devious, deceitful, sexual deviants, weak, opium-addled, and immune to normal human feelings of honor and shame. While the story does hit many of the historical highlights, the record is so grossly distorted that the reader will be forgiven for not recognizing that the Second Opium War was started by the British on a pretext in order to open yet more Chinese ports to more foreign trade, including the importation of opium, and otherwise extend its influence. The burning of the Summer Palace is presented as an act of British restraint. The reader would never guess that the propriety of this act was hotly disputed between Gladstone and Palmserton and derided by Victor Hugo (not to mention the Chinese and Manchu reaction). Lady Yehonala is falsely portrayed as a wanton sex- and opium-fiend. According to the end notes, Fraser based his story in part on the thoroughly discredited forger and con man Edmund Backhouse. See Hugh Trevor-Roper's Hermit of Peking: The Hidden Life of Sir Edmund Backhouse (History & Politics) and Sterling Seagrave's Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China (published after Flashman). Learning history from Harry Flashman should be undertaken with great care. Perhaps the better approach is to avoid taking the history too seriously and read them for the pro-imperial but humorous tales of the delightfully detestable Flashy. Flashman and the Dragon is best read as an entertaining period piece reflecting the prejudices of an earlier era.
    • 4/5
      Another in the series about Victorian cad, coward, liar and lecher Flashman, of Tom Brown's Schooldays fame (or infamy). In this one Flashy is tricked, lured and/or blackmailed into joining John Brown on his famous raid on Harper's Ferry, part of the run-up to the Civil War in that part of the world.This book is as funny and cleverly put together as the others, with a lot of attention to historical detail and plausibility (and Flashman is nothing if not plausible - he spent his life practising it). However it differs from many of the others in that Flashy acts almost bravely at times, and seems to have developed a liking and respect for John Brown, whilst at the same time, of course, trying to cheat him.
    • 4/5
      If you have been keeping track, the Flashman papers are now in the years 1858 to 1859. Flashman is thirty six years old and back in America where old enemies remember him and new enemies are out to blackmail him. He's not back by choice, though. Someone from his past had an old score to settle. So here's Harry, knee deep in the conflicts of slavery...again. This time he's working with "the angel of the Lord," John Brown of Harper's Ferry fame. Yes, THAT John Brown.Interestingly enough, Fraser decided to scale back the sex scenes for this particular installment. In addition to not having many opportunities to shag the lady next door, Flashman appears to be growing up some. To some he doesn't appear to be as cowardly or as shallow...He still tries to get out of getting out of the October 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry but as usual, is unsuccessful.
    • 4/5
      I've never brought this up before, but do you realize there's a similarity between Fraser's Flashman, and Terry Pratchett's Rincewind the Wizzard?Well, maybe you have to be there, and maybe I've got to stop reviewing these two authors one after the other? Flashman comes face to face with the famous American Abolitionist, John Brown. I was surprised to discover that Brown was in reality a very conscious martyr for the Cause! Ah, the media were a poison even in the run-up to the Civil War. It's a good Flashman story.
    • 4/5
      Our intrepid hero, Harry Flashman, is back for volume ten 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.The first five Flashman novels were presented in chronological order. Several installments thereafter acted to fill in gaps in the story. From a chronological standpoint, the adventures of this novel immediately follow those contained in Flashman in the Great Game, wherein we left Flashman on the heels of his wholly unintentional heroics displayed in the great Indian Mutiny of 1857. Harry decamps to South Africa, on the way home to England, where he is hijacked and kidnapped by his old nemesis, Captain John Charity Spring. Spring arranges for Flashman’s transport to the United States, where he expects Flashman to be arrested and arraigned for his exploits which were covered in a previous installment, Flash For Freedom.As in the previous 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. Much as a prior day Forrest Gump, he has a way of finding himself among the most powerful and famous personages of his era, as he takes part in the great events of the period, in this case, John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry. Aside from uproarious fun and games, the Flashman series is set against historical events and actually serves as an educational experience. On to volume eleven of the Flashman Papers.
    • 3/5
      In effect a sequel to Flash for Freedom, one of the best in the series. This is not so good--Flashy himself is almost a bystander --but it does give a vivid picture of John Brown as a man who deliberately chose martyrdom
    • 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? While Flashman’s professed neutrality on the slavery ‘question’ may be difficult to swallow (at least to this modern reader), his attitude to puritans and fanatics is refreshing. Long live Flashman!
    • 4/5
      Another in the series about Victorian cad, coward, liar and lecher Flashman, of Tom Brown's Schooldays fame (or infamy). In this one Flashy is tricked, lured and/or blackmailed into joining John Brown on his famous raid on Harper's Ferry, part of the run-up to the Civil War in that part of the world.This book is as funny and cleverly put together as the others, with a lot of attention to historical detail and plausibility (and Flashman is nothing if not plausible - he spent his life practising it). However it differs from many of the others in that Flashy acts almost bravely at times, and seems to have developed a liking and respect for John Brown, whilst at the same time, of course, trying to cheat him.