Flash for Freedom!

Flash for Freedom! is a 1971 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the third of the Flashman novels.

As usual with these books, this one covers a lot of diverse historical ground: The 1848 Chartist demonstration, Disraeli, the African slave trade, King Ghezo and his amazon warriors, the underground railroad and Abraham Lincoln himself. Much of the in the United States itself.

After a scandal involving cheating and assault, England becomes too hot for young Flashman and his father-in-law sends him off. Flashman suddenly realizes that he's on a slave ship captained by a lunatic bound for Africa to take on a cargo of slaves, and he's horrified. Not so much about slavery but that running slaves is proscribed in 1848 and he's fearful of the ship being seized by an in­ter­dict­ing navy. They transport a cargo to the Americas but offload it before being captured by the U.S. Navy. Flashman manages to pose as a Royal Navy spy, then escapes before having to give testimony. He flees up the Missis­sip­pi in a variety of guises; re­luc­tant­ly escorting escaped slaves; subsequently becoming a slavedriv­er himself for a while before the slaveowner has Flashman sold into slavery; escaping across a frozen river to be saved from slave­catch­ers by Con­gress­man Abraham Lincoln; before ending up in a New Orleans courtroom.

What I found most interesting about this book was that it got into the international politics of slave trading. It was allowable to own slaves in America, but slave trading itself had been outlawed and was punishable by death. Consequently, when Flashman finds out he's on a slave trading vessel, he's horrified not for moral reasons, but because he's worried about being caught and hanged.

Reader be warned: there is extensive use of the “n” word. But if you can set that to one side, this is a extremely entertaining book.

So with Episode #3 of the Flashman Papers, Fraser take us out of chronological order for the first time, although it follow on from the end of #2 Royal Flash. Royal Flash wraps up in 1848; Flash for Freedom takes place in 1848 & 1849.The brief version - Flashman is pushed into politics by his father-in-law, but at the first hurdle he is found wanting - caught cheating at cards (not guilty this time, but an old acquaintance from the past got his revenge at last), and bundled out of the country. Onto a merchant ship and away, but, of course, it isn't just a merchant ship, she is a blackbirder, running slaves from Dahomey (Benin) to Honduras for the ‘American Market', and while Flash doesn't have an objection to slavery per se, even he balks from time to time at the treatment of the men and women. Not that Flashman is subject to the morals of normal men... he manages to find his way on the ship, and shows he is still all about looking after himself.A run in with the US Navy after they unload most of the slaves at Honduras lands Flashman and the crew in the USA, but he has a scheme, and ends up on the side of the law, but not for long. The Underground Railroad engage his services to accompany a man up to Canada, but even then circumstances conspire against Flashy, and he must make an escape again. From here, the story is far from over.As a side note here - as we come to expect with Fraser and his immaculate accuracy in these books, the descriptions are very real. There is a lot of hard reading in this book, which would have been the case in 1971 when it was published. The treatment of the Africans on the Balliol College was bad, but as described in conversations in the book, one of the better slave ships - where the captain realised the better treated the cargo were, the more survived the journey. Similarly the attitude of people and treatment of slaves in the slave-states of the USA at the time - unpleasant to read (at best). As I mention above, while Flashman is still looking after Flashman, and he takes what advantages he can.As usual, Fraser is able to seamlessly weave real life events into the story around Flashman. Abraham Lincoln features heavily here, as do the details of the slave trade, the Underground Railroad, the slave hunters and the complex laws, changing from state to state. [a:Frances Isabella Locke Duberly 5552604 Frances Isabella Locke Duberly https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] (as Fanny Locke, before she married) features at the start, in the card game that sinks Flashman; King Gezo of Dahomey with his Amazon warrior women are real historical characters; and Flashy also suggests he provided the inspiration for [b:Uncle Tom's Cabin 46787 Uncle Tom's Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414349231l/46787.SY75.jpg 2478635].After Royal Flash, it was good to have Flashman back (partially) in control of his own story, after being led through that book. 4 stars———-Previous reviews from this series:FlashmanRoyal Flash