Book review - "Flashman at the Charge" by George MacDonald Fraser

 Splendid entry, the second classic. It's a two part story - the Crimea and then Central Asia - but it works brilliantly, in part because it's all Flashman vs Russia so there is tonal consistency. Full of superb set pieces: the card game, the Crimean battles, the charge (throwing in Flashman farting which works excellently), the escape across the ice, the final battle. Many memorable characters, most real-life figures: Cardigan, Yakub Beg, Ignatieff (great villain), Raglan, Lew Nolan, Scarlett. There are terrific ideas like having Flashman look after a German prince, the return of Scud East, and having Flashman be brave through the use of hash. This is the sexiest Flashman too - interrupting a nude Elspeth and Cardigan (skillfully drafted so she might be innocent), the seduction by Aunt Sara, the hot blooded Valla who he has on a sled (and then throws out which is very Flashman, and also funny because you know she's going to be alright), the seduction by the Silk One's Daughter with a cat nearby.