Editing Harry Flashman (section)

==Character==
Flashman is a large man, {{convert|6|ft|2|in|m|spell=in}} tall and close to 13 [[stone (weight)|stone]] (about 180 pounds or 82&nbsp;kg). In ''Flashman and the Tiger'', he mentions that one of his grandchildren has black hair and eyes, resembling him in his younger years. His dark colouring frequently enabled him to pass (in disguise) for a [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]]. He claims only three natural talents: horsemanship, facility with foreign languages, and fornication. He becomes an expert cricket-bowler, but only through hard effort (he needed sporting credit at Rugby School, and feared to play [[rugby football]]). He can also display a winning personality when he wants to, and is very skilled at flattering those more important than himself without appearing servile.

As he admits in the Papers, Flashman is a coward, who will flee from danger if there is any way to do so, and has on some occasions collapsed in funk. He has one great advantage in concealing this weakness: when he is frightened, his face turns red, rather than white, so that observers think he is excited, enraged, or exuberant—as a hero ought to be.

After his expulsion from [[Rugby School]] for drunkenness, the young Flashman looks for an easy life. He has his wealthy father [[Purchase of commissions in the British Army|buy him an officer's commission]] in the fashionable [[11th Hussars|11th Regiment of Light Dragoons]]. The 11th, commanded by [[James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan|Lord Cardigan]], later involved in the [[Charge of the Light Brigade]], has just returned from [[India]] and are not likely to be posted abroad soon. Flashman throws himself into the social life that the 11th offered and becomes a leading light of [[Canterbury]] society. In 1840 the regiment is converted to Hussars with an elegant blue and crimson uniform, which assists Flashman in attracting female attention for the remainder of his military career.<ref>''Flashman'', pp. 46 and 50.</ref>

A [[duel]] with another officer over a French [[courtesan]] leads to his being temporarily stationed in [[Paisley, Scotland]]. There he meets and deflowers Elspeth Morrison, daughter of a wealthy textile manufacturer, whom he has to marry in a "[[shotgun wedding]]" under threat of a horsewhipping by her uncle. But marriage to the daughter of a mere businessman forces his transferral from the snobbish 11th Hussars. He is sent to India to make a career in the army of the [[East India Company]]. Unfortunately, his language talent and his habit of flattery bring him to the attention of the [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]]. The Governor does him the (very much unwanted) favour of assigning him as aide to General [[William George Keith Elphinstone|Elphinstone]] in [[Afghanistan]]. 

Flashman survives the ensuing [[1842 retreat from Kabul|retreat from Kabul]] (the worst British military debacle of Victoria's reign) by a mixture of sheer luck and unstinting [[cowardice]]. He becomes an unwitting hero: the defender of Piper's Fort, where he is the only surviving white man, and is found by the relieving troops clutching the flag and surrounded by enemy dead. Of course, Flashman had arrived at the fort by accident, collapsed in terror rather than fighting, been forced to stand and show fight by his subordinate, and is 'rumbled' for a complete coward. He had been trying to surrender the colours, not defend them. Happily for him, all inconvenient witnesses had been killed.

This incident sets the tone for Flashman's life. Over the following 60 years or so, he is involved in many of the major military conflicts of the 19th century—always in spite of his best efforts to evade his duty. He is often selected for especially dangerous jobs because of his heroic reputation. He meets many famous people, and survives some of the worst military disasters of the period (the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]], the [[Charge of the Light Brigade]], the [[Siege of Cawnpore]], the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]], and the [[Battle of Isandlwana]]), always coming out with more heroic laurels. The date of his last adventure seems to have been around 1900, being involved in the [[Boxer Rebellion]] alongside [[US Marines]].<ref>''Mr American''</ref> He dies in 1915.

Despite his admitted cowardice, Flashman is a dab hand at fighting when he has to. Though he dodges danger as much as he can, and runs away when no one is watching, after the Piper's Fort incident, he usually controls his fear and often performs bravely. Almost every book contains one or more incidents where Flashman has to fight or perform some other daring action, and he holds up long enough to complete it. For instance, he is ordered to accompany the Light Brigade on its famous charge and rides all the way to the Russian guns. However, most of these acts of 'bravery' are performed only when he has absolutely no choice and to do anything else would result in his being exposed as a coward and losing his respected status in society, or being shot for desertion. When he can act like a coward with impunity, he invariably does.

Flashman surrenders to fear in front of witnesses only a few times, and is never caught out again. During the siege of Piper's Fort, in the first novel, Flashman cowers weeping in his bed at the start of the final assault; the only witness to this dies before relief comes. He breaks down while accompanying Rajah Brooke during a battle with pirates, but the noise drowns out his blubbering, and he recovers enough to command a storming party of sailors (placing himself right in the middle of the party, to avoid stray bullets). After the Charge of the Light Brigade, he flees in panic from the fighting in the battery—but mistakenly charges into an entire Russian regiment, adding to his heroic image.

In spite of his numerous character flaws, Flashman is represented as being a perceptive observer of his times ("I saw further than most in some ways"<ref>''Flashman'', p. 49.</ref>). In its obituary<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2008/01/10/george-macdonald-fraser|title=George MacDonald Fraser|newspaper=The Economist|date=10 January 2008}}</ref> of George MacDonald Fraser, ''[[The Economist]]'' commented that realistic sharp-sightedness ("if not much else") was an attribute Flashman shared with his creator.<ref>''[[The Economist]]'', 10 January 2008.</ref>