I only have three books going now, probably because my main book, Flashman on the March, George MacDonald Fraser’s final Flashman book, includes several of the characteristics I like: history, adventure, humor, great storytelling. “Flashman on the March” is set during the British military expedition into Abyssinia in 1868 to rescue European hostages held by the mad emperor Theodore. I haven’t read a Flashman book in quite a while, but I read that MacDonald Fraser published this one shortly before his death, and fortunately the library had a copy. There is a formula to these books: Flashman - cad, coward, womaniser, shameless self-promoter – finds himself thrown into a real 19th century historical event and experiences the utmost of intrigue, seduction, danger, torture and battle that the history will allow. Flashman is a bigoted, foul-mouthed untrustworthy witness to history, so the author provides lengthy historical notes at the back of the book with accurate information on the real people and situations that appear in the story. All very clever and entertaining, although the author sometimes lets Flashman run off at the mouth too long.
- MacDonald Fraser is one of the best swashbuckling adventure writers ever: he wrote the scripts for the great 1973 “Three/Four Musketeers” movies with Michael York and Faye Dunaway.
- Theodore and the British rescue mission make up most of The Blue Nile by Alan Moorehead, a classic of history. It, along with Moorehead’s The White Nile are coincidentally in the revolving bookcase, high on the reread roster.
My other two books are Underfoot in Show Business, by Helene Hanff, a paperback ragged from repeated reading, and Horrible Histories Ireland by Terry Deary. Horrible Histories is a British series of smartass, irreverent history books for children, usually pretty accurate, with lots of funny drawings, silly quizzes, disgusting historical recipes and suitable amounts of blood and gore. I always pick some of these up when I’m in the UK, and have quite a collection.