by George MacDonald Fraser
With this volume, we find Flashy in the Punjab in 1845, witnessing and spying in the first Sikh War (or Rebellion, if you look at it from the British view). Reading so much Cornwell for the past year made me forget just how good Fraser is. Cornwell is good, certainly — but this is highly detailed, thoroughly researched historical fiction, managing to be both more of a dramatic page-turner and more erudite than any Sharpe book. I’ve commented before on Flashy’s growing heroism, and nowhere is it more apparent than in this book, where Flash does actual service to the crown, and is even allowed at the end a bit of real one-upsmanship. Of course, as he notes, it’s ironic that he gets rewarded for his cowardice, and disdained for something close to skill and bravery in the line of duty.
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