Customer Reviews
Flashman forever - By: Didier, 30 Mar 2007 
'Flashman & the Tiger' actually contains three stories:
In 'The road to Charing Cross' (some 200 pages) Flashman meets the son of his old chum Rudi Starnberg (from 'Royal Flash') & is coerced into a cunning plot to assasinate the Emperor Franz-Jozef. 'The subleties of baccarat' (60 pages) has very little action but centers on a card gamein which one of the participants cheated...or did he? There's a nice twist at the end with a starring role for Elspeth. And finally,in 'Flashman & the Tiger' (45 pages) our unlikely hero has to confront the (in)famous Jack 'Tiger' Moran.
Flashman himself is his usual cowardly self, & fires off one-liners that'll have you laughing no end, but I agree with earlier reviewers that this is perhaps one of the lesser Flashman-novels. Some characters (think of Sherlock Holmes) seem to thrive bestin short stories, I find that Flashman doesn't.
However, I cannot help but repeat (ad nauseam, if I look at my reviews of other Flashman-novels) that this is still prime entertainment, & even if I live to Flashman's own ripe age (allegedly he died when he was over 90 years old) I will always remember him, galloping away - & not always on horseback, mind you - to boldly go where no poltroon has gone before!
Good, but not his best - By: SJ SMART, 21 Feb 2007 
I really love the Flashman novels, I own all of them including this one & was lucky enough to meet George MacDonald Fraserin 2005. However, I have to say this one is not one of his best.
The three storiesin this volume are interesting enough but dont grab me, they do add a bit more to the character of Flashman but it was soo frustrating to have Flashman actuallyin the Zulu wars for the first time that I am aware of & yet we see so little of it. Normallyin his other great books setin India or Afghanistan there is a lot of historical detail & a bigger context. This time it felt like just a glimpse of a great possibility.
Still a fan though, read it & see what you think.
Great Flashy book about an obscure historical event - By: , 06 Mar 2006 Another hilariously irreverent adventure of the arch cad, Flashy, this time set during the Abyssinian crisis of 1868, a little known mission to free British hostages from an African tyrant. It has all the usual bombast, dissembling, sneering, lasciviousness, desperation, & cowardice we've all come to love the Imperial Army's biggest cad & bounder for. But this time out, why has Fraser chosen such an obscure historical setting for his novel? One doesn't get the wonted feeling that Flashy is unwittingly & reluctantly changing the course of history, as he didin Schleswig-Holstein or India backin the old '57. And also, Fraser himself doesn't seem to be that interestedin the situation, as the plot seems a little more contrived & lacklustre than usual. Still great stuff though. And there is still reason to expect more Flashman papers to be deferred to the general judgement of the public.
