We need a new post!

So I am going to talk about a series of books I love with a slightly abashed love.

The Flashman Papers.

The main character is everything a good feminist (indeed, a good person) ought to revile: a cowardly self-centered bully who is openly racist, sexist, and xenophobic.

The problem is, the books are HYSTERICAL. I read the first one in an airport and couldn't stop guffawing; at one point someone came over (I thought he was going to shush me) and said how much he loved the books too. (They are also remarkably thoughtful and brilliantly researched. In fact the first one was taken as non-fiction by a number a reviewers when it first came out.) Flashman is a member of the British Army in the latter half of the 19th century, so he spends time in Afghanistan, India, Borneo, Madagascar, the Crimea, the U.S., etc. - and everywhere he goes, he wins plaudits as a hero while attempting to shirk his duty and fainting of terror and incessantly womanizing and observing everything with a cynical smirk.

If you can put up with an anti-hero as your protagonist, and like getting a different perspective on history, and have the right kind of sense of humour, these books are for you. Again, I LOVE 'em, and will happily lend them out to FBC members.