What a journey… finishing Flashman on the March I've now read all of the Flashman books. At the beginning I was appalled but kept reading. By the end I was lamenting the adventures of our scoundrel that I'd never get to read. One of Fraser's great techniques throughout the books was to scatter references to the rest of Flashman's life. For example, Flashman frequently refers to the fact that he fought on both sides of the American Civil War, and now I'm sorry that I'll never get to find out how that came about.

I'm not sure if I've just got used to Flashman's terrible ways, or if Fraser toned down the character over the years. But by the end I actually kind of liked the old reprobate.

This final volume is set during the 1868 British Expedition to Abyssinia. As usual with the Flashman books, I learned about a section of history I'd never even known about before. I mean, as simple as the notion that Ethiopia used to be called Abyssinia. I did not not know that. Flashman does his usual stumbling through history, cheating and womanizing the whole way.

FuzzyCo grade: B+