I was expecting to be disappointed with these stories since I knew I would be comparing them to the Sherlock Holmes stories. But I enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed the Holmes stories and when I had finished the book I found myself wishing that Doyle had written more stories about the Brigadier Gerard. Gerard is a very different character than Holmes but the characterization is just as brilliant. I highly recommend this book.

Brigadier Gerard is everything that a Briton of Conan Doyle's time thought was an exemplar of the Napoleonic officer - and to a certain extent a charicature of the French themselves. Hopelessly and ridiculously brave, completely lacking in appreciation of the fine British virtues of sportsmanship, a devotion to L'Empereur, rather dim, obsessed with his honor and the honor of La France, and yet rather admirable too in his prickly way.

In this fine book the Brigadier regales us with stories of his youth, when most of Europe was part of the French Empire and opportunities abounded for young men who looked good in cavalry uniform. Gerard tells the story with no irony, but the reader laughs a good deal at the absurdities of the hero. When attempting to shoot the ash off a cigar he destroys the whole cigar instead to the dismay of its smoker who is smoking it at the time. Clearly, Gerard maintains, the pistol is at fault. On a few occasions he succeeds when all expect him to fail and as a result his success is actually a failure. The stories encompass many of the great events of the Napoleonic wars: the horrors of partisan fighting in Spain, the invasion of Russia, war in the German states and Prussia, even capture by the British. Always the stories are superbly told with a very fine eye for realistic detail and they are often quite gripping. Again this is one of those books I am amazed has never been made into a film or a TV series.

George MacDonald Fraser has taken a good deal of the Gerard style for his Flashman series, although of course the two characters are poles apart in morality.

I recommend this book to all lovers of history novels and also to anyone who just likes to read superb stories in the grand old manner, where manly men are engaged in "honest" combat, and where evil enemies, treacherous peasants, and duplicitous politicos usually meet their doom under Gerard's cavalry saber.

For those who only know Conan Doyle via his Sherlock Holmes tales, his second most popular fictional creation may come as quite a revelation. With the eighteen "Brigadier Gerard" tales collected here, he created an affectionately mocking portrait of a swashbuckling French cavalry officer of the Napoleonic era. Gerard is a wonderful comic character, in his own not so humble opinion the foremost rider and swordsmen in all the Grand Armeé, he's also a favorite of the ladies, a stickler on points of honor, first volunteer for hazardous missions-and unbeknownst to him, marvelously thickheaded.

His "exploits and adventures" are presented as reminisces by the old grizzled officer, long into his dotage. Since he doesn't tell these in chronological order, this can be momentarily disconcerting, but only momentarily. Each episode runs approximately 20 to 30 pages and generally concerns some individual adventure he's assigned to or stumbles into. These are uniformly entertaining old-fashioned adventures in which Gerard sometimes triumphs, sometimes fails, but always upholds the honor and glory of the Emperor. He makes an interesting counterpart to Bernard Cornwell's gritty and equally heroic fictional British veteran of the Napoleonic wars, Richard Sharpe.

This new edition is to be commended, but it could have been further improved with the addition of a few maps, a general chronology of the Napoleonic era, and a glossary of the frequently used military terms of the era. Still, these are quibbles, and anyone with more than a passing familiarity with Napoleonic history will have no problems enjoying Gerard's tales.

Harry Flashman, bully, undeserving hero, and cad, is forced to leave England on the sudden after a fight over a card game. He lands on the ship of what may be Fraser's best original character, former Oxonian and classics-quoting slave ship Captain John Charity Spring. When the ship is captured in the Gulf of Mexico after doing a slave run, Flashy changes sides with his usual elan, and is brought to America as a minor hero. He soon finds himself facing an uncommonly bright young Congressman from Illinois, one of the few people ever to see through Flashy, who will meet him again during (the as-yet-unpublished, alas) Flashy's Civil War experiences.

A delight, as we get to watch Flashy rogue his way through stunning dangers, as Fraser gives us detailed pictures of the 19th century slave trade, the South, and the Underground Railroad. Extensively footnoted, as usual

Flashman is a much loved character, and we can understand why as he displays (though never admitting to himself) more courage in the interest of keeping his skin whole than most heroes display in defense of their country.

Read them. Read them all.

This book comprised the fifth stage of my chronological survey of the live and times of our bewhiskered toady bastard and decorated servant of Her Majesty Harry Flashman. Upon being tricked during a card game Flashy has to leave the country for a while. Unknowingly, he ends up on a slave ship on its way to Africa. This episode allows Fraser to give an accurately grim description of both the actions and the mindset of the people engaged in the slave trade. Intercepted at the American coast Flashy changes identity, gets to meet Lincoln and assumes a variety of roles at different sides of the issue of slavery. After a variety of comical encounters and mounting many a wench, Flashy ends up in a courtroom drama, in which Fraser displayed a prophetic vision of future US court cases. This book is another example of Fraser's mastery in providing a highly entertaining history lesson. It's not hard to understand why Kingsley Amis read little else than Flashman novels at the end of his live.

Harry Flashman, England's most irrepressible scoundrel, is back for more international adventures. Flashman meets all the greats in this superb historical novel from the future British Prime Minister Disraeli to the future American President Lincoln. Fraser makes things consistent, I'll give him that. Flashman is still looking out for, well Flashman, but somehow he ends up winning accolades for committing criminal acts that seem to somehow get misinterpreted. Not that Flashman minds or cares mind you. The novel centers around the issue of slavery during the mid-19th century before the American Civil War. Flash for Freedom is another example of historical story-telling that is packed with real events. Losing his chance at a political career, Flashman is forced to join a ship of slavers headed for West Africa. Flash makes eyes at an alluring Amazon there and then finally ends up in New Orleans. Posing as a dead naval officer, Flashman manages to lie and cheat his way across the country with nothing on his mind except vengeance against his miserly father-in-law and getting into the pants of every half-way decent woman he encounters. Filled with twists and turns, you'd think ol' Flashy was done for except for the fact that he is writing this posthumously sometime in the future when he has become an aged Flashman. This book has it all with lots of adventure, romance (well sex anyway), intrigue, humor, drama, and much more. Highly recommended for those interested in history or those who just want to read the adventures of a lousy no-good scumbag who somehow manages to get us to root for him!

Author George MacDonald Fraser, the accomplished British author of the FLASHMAN PAPERS and the Private McAuslan trilogy, has also toiled as a Hollywood scriptwriter. And he's been fascinated by pirate stories all his life. Thus, in THE PYRATES, the reader is treated to what could serve as the script for the funniest, most outrageous buccaneer saga ever not put on film.

The hero of THE PYRATES is Captain Ben Avery, RN, the handsomest, most chivalrous, noblest, most incorruptible, bravest, most dutiful, and most unseducible man ever to wield an officer's sword on behalf of His Majesty. In Avery, as with every other of the novel's characters, Fraser has lovingly created a caricature. In any case, the time is "the old and golden days of England". King Charles occupies the throne. Ben is ordered to secretly convey a priceless crown to the King of Madagascar. On the same outbound ship are Admiral Lord Rooke and his gorgeous daughter Vanity. Of course, seafaring rascals capture the vessel, steal the crown, abandon Ben on a sandspit, and sell Vanity into white slavery. The tabloids (!) blame Avery for the debacle, and the remainder of the book has our superhero valiantly struggling to rescue honor, crown and Vanity from assorted scoundrels and near things. Of course, even the villains are occasionally endearing, especially if they're British, e.g. Colonel Blood, RA (Cashiered), a darker version of Avery without the ethics or meticulous dress code. And, needless to say, Captain Ben is besotted with Vanity, though his appreciation for her considerable charms is entirely platonic, anything more prurient unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.

Since a small movie plays in my mind whenever I read fiction, the chief delight of this swashbuckling caper is the way Fraser attaches period-piece incongruities to the plot which result in hilarious "sight gags" and other absurdities. Contemplate the following: laundry chutes in a Spanish galleon, meal-seating announcements aboard a pirate ship, buccaneers getting drunk and rowdy on captured Perrier, eau de cologne by the barrel or the handy bucket size, a pirate chief's stock portfolio, the deplorable lack of Kleenex in a fetid orlop prison, shipboard ruffians being entertained by a puppet show, pirate disability insurance, the limited number of headsets for men set adrift in small boats, threats of a horrible death by bicycle pump (?), or the French buccaneers' battle cry of "Remember Dien Bien Phu!" Imagine what Mel Brooks could do with this material!

THE PYRATES is about fifty pages too long. Those parts of the non-stop action that include the South American Indian tribe and the insanely evil Spanish Viceroy, Don Lardo, were unnecessary digressions better left on the cutting room floor. However, that minor flaw didn't prevent me from laughing out loud on several occasions, causing my wife to throw alarmed glances my way. Yes, I think even the Queen would be amused.

I am a huge fan of Fraser's "Flashman" series, and have enjoyed "Mr. American" and "Black Ajax" as well. "Pyrates" only enhanced my appreciation for this author. It is one of the few books I have ever read that actually made me laugh out loud. It is hilarious from start to finish, especially the side comments from the pirate "greek chorus" at different spots throughout the book. You don't have to be a fan of swashbucklers to like this story. You just need to enjoy well-written, well-crafted, and unbelievably witty writing. Thank you, Mr. Fraser...you are a master of your craft. I know you wrote this book while working on screenplays for Hollywood -- any chance THIS story will ever become a movie? We can only hope!

You've seen them countless times before, the dashing heros and evil villains in those classic pirate movies. But you've never seen them as they are in George MacDonald Fraser's labor of love, The Pyrates. Fraser, author of the Flashman books of historical fiction, wrote The Pyrates as his personal tribute to the many pleasurable hours he spent with Daniel Defoe and Robert Louis Stevenson, Basil Rathbone and Errol Flynn. Giving a nod to both Hollywood and history, Fraser has crafted a wickedly funny version of the English navy's run-in with the Coast Brethren.

With tongue firmly in cheek, Fraser launches his Hero, Captain Ben Avery, on a mission that quickly goes astray. Forced to team up with the Anti-hero, Colonel Thomas Blood (British Army, cashiered), Ben must recover rare jewels o' price, rescue the Heroine, Lady Vanity, from the fell clutches o' evil pyrates, and rid the Spanish Main o' every tarry-handed mother's son in the Brotherhood. For spice, Fraser throws in a fascinating array of knaves, kings, despots, wayward admirals, Lost Indian Tribes, kidnapped damsels, thieves, sultry piratical temptresses, and shifty pawnbrokers.

The Pyrates is a splendid read, a great story told by a great storyteller, and I'm past due for a new copy. But this book also shows Fraser's immense skill as a writer. He breathes life into every character, no matter how minor the role, and he writes with a precision and economy that leaves me amazed.

So clap yer deadlights on The Pyrates, wi' a wannion, and blame y'rself if you leave emptyhanded, for this be a right fine read, by the Powers, devil a doubt, or scupper me wi' a marlinspike...else.

Flashman's Lady is yet another installment of the Flashman series. For those who are not aware, the Flashman series is about a mythical 19th century British soldier who, despite being a coward and a cad, finds himself on the winning end of some of the most historical battles/situations. The books succeed by being both well-researhed historical fiction and, well, comic novels. So how does Flashman's Lady hold up?

Not so well I'm afraid. Flashman's Lady is really three separate novels. The first third is, inexplicably, a historical piece on cricket in the 1840s. The subject is completely out of context with the remaining two-thirds of the novel and, well, I found it to be only marginally interesting.

The second third of the novel picks up nicely with a pirate adventure in Indonesia. Flashman's ditsy wife is kidnapped and, reluctantly, Harry Flashman runs to the rescue. Unfortunately the author doesn't do enough with this promising story. Flashman rescues his wife and soon finds himself back on the high seas.

On to the last section of the novel, and Harry Flashman and his wife are captive in Madagascar. Madagascar in the early 19th century was rule by a tyrant queen that defies believe (..in terms of the atrocities she inflicts on her subjects). Naturally she can't help to fall in love (or at least 'in lust') with Harry. Silly, yet the Madagascar setting is most intriguing.

Bottom line: three disjointed stories. Fortunately the last story is the most interesting. Too bad George MacDonald Fraser didn't choose to devote more on the latter two stories. So overall I consider Flashman's Lady something only a loyal Flashman fan would want to read.

I read this book as number three in a chronological review of the life and times of the "heroic Flashman". While my previous reads Flashman and Royal Flash had been Fraser's first two volumes in the Flashy saga, this book is one of the later ones.

Like he previous two volumes Fraser entertained me greatly with the life and times of a master in the arts of cowardess and fornication. In this book there is again plenty of historical perspective and adventure. In addition, this later Flashman goes a little deeper in the self-analysis of our hero's strengths and weaknesses and adds extra "depth" to a better understanding of what makes good old Flashy tick.

Using the sport of cricket Fraser goes back to his roots as a sports writer in giving a really engaging description of the game. I should mention that knowledge of the basics of this sport is required to fully appreciate the finesses of Fraser's description.

As a pleasant extra, many of the chapters end with entries from the diary of Elspeth, Flashy's one, but certainly not only. These little nuggets really work in giving the reader some extra perspective on the narrative and Flashman himself.

In all, this book was another joy from beginning to end. With books as enjoyable as this one, a reader might wish to be on the ship at the end of Marquez' "Love in times of cholera", and hope the journey would never end.

The author brings several worlds to vivid life, in this novel that links several stories into a seamless whole. I personally think that Frasier missed his calling: he should have been a sportswriter. The cricket game, with poor idiot Elspeth as the prize, is told so well that I've re-read it several times. Each of the worlds he creates, Frasier fills with such colorful characters that they are three-dimensional. The cricket game brings us Deadlius Tighe, esq., a classic scoundrel; Singapore is personified in Catchick Moses; and British imperial/missionary zeal in James Brooke. (The depiction of Brooke inspired me to read everything that I could find on this fighting seaman and colonizer.) Best of all is a villan equal to Flashy himself: Sulemann Usman. The novel gives the reader the wide world, and does it in such a way as to make it seem real, as in the eyes of a 19th century mind. A keeper that brings genuine enjoyment with every re-reading. -Lloyd A. Conway

Before Fraser became well known for his "Flashman" series of comic historical novels, he was an enlisted man in the 17th Division of the 14th Indian Army during WWII. Almost 50 years later, he recounts his wartime experience in Burma from the perspective of his section of about eight or so men, all from Cumbria in NW England. With his many writerly gifts, he gives a mostly unvarnished account of what he did and saw, capturing battle actions and anecdotes with sharp and often witty prose.

Fraser's account is very much a personal one, and throughout the book he rails against contemporary mores and broader political correctness concerning the war. He is quite open about how the British forces believed themselves to be superior beings compared to the Japanese they fought-and points to Japanese POW camps as a vindication of this. Similarly, he reports the campfire discussions after his unit saw newsreels from liberated concentration camps, in which all agreed that Germany needed to be razed to the ground. Fraser himself provides an emphatic defense of the use of nuclear bombs on Japan. And in his defense, it is true that the latest scholarship on the subject is in agreement that Japan was not on the brink of surrender at the time.

Beyond these larger issues, the memoir is perhaps at its best when telling the smaller stories. The character of his Cumbrian comrades, the descriptions of various "native" units such as the Gurkhas, Pathans, Sikhs, and especially a hilarious description of the Army's East African drivers. There's a great bit where he falls down a well in the middle of an attack, and another great part where an uneducated Sergeant borrows his copy of Shakespeare's Henry V and definitively concludes that Shakespeare had been a soldier. My favorite bit though, was when he is sent to teach the PIAT (British version of the bazooka) to a guerilla unit led by a character straight out of Monty Python. Cpt. "Grief" was one of those crazy commando-type officers who spoke in a running "rah rah" style, thought that war was great fun, and was totally deadly.

Although at times Fraser's conservative crankiness gets old, and at times his slips into over-sentimentality, its kind of hard to begrudge him those faults-having done his service, he's earned the right to grumble. Overall, the memoir is a great taste of "the forgotten war" in Asia and an excellent example of the infantryman-level view of the war.

As a young man, George MacDonald Fraser was a "ranker" (enlisted man) assigned to the 17th (Black Cat) Division of the British 14th Indian Army as it pursued the Japanese south through Burma after the latter's resounding defeat at the gates of India, at Imphal. Fraser's narrative history of his personal contribution to this campaign is QUARTERED SAFE OUT HERE.

Written decades after the fact, this book does not pretend to be a comprehensive history of the Burma Theater in the last months of World War II. Rather, it's the war from the perspective of Nine Section in which Fraser fought, first as a Private, then Lance Corporal. (A "section" is the smallest operating unit of an infantry platoon, i.e. 8-10 men.) Besides being a vivid retelling of the author's recollections to the extent that he remembers, it's also an intimate portrait of the organization, weapons, tactics and camaraderie of the British Army at section level at that time, place, and conflict. It's a story told with the humor, intelligence and introspection that comes with maturity and hindsight. And, though some of Fraser's bitterness towards his old foe occasionally shows, age does dull the sharp edges.

"I remember watching, a year or two ago, televised interviews with old Japanese soldiers who had fought in the war ... sitting in their gardens in their sports shirts, blinking cheerfully in the sunlight, reminiscing in throat-clearing croaks about battles long ago. It crossed my mind: were any of you on the Pyawbwe slope, and lived to tell the tale? Well, if they did, at this time of day I don't mind."

Fraser is a truly gifted writer. After VJ Day, he applied for, and was awarded, a commission as a subaltern (2nd Lieutenant) in a Scottish Highland division posted to the Middle East. In this capacity, his experiences served as the basis for his quite wonderful and comedic McAuslan series of fictional stories (collected and available from Amazon.co.uk in THE COMPLETE MCAUSLAN). I unreservedly recommend both of these two books to anyone who has ever served in any branch of the armed forces, no matter what country. I myself was in the U.S. Navy, and Fraser's works are in the "can't put down" category.

George MacDonald Fraser, creator of the Flashman series takes on not 19th Century history, but rather himself this time out. Here, in just over 200 pages, he paints a highly evocative picture of the British Tommy slugging his way through Burma and to victory in 1945. His memory he admits, has its gaps. He recalls meeting General Slim, the famed commander of the 14th Army, but cannot recall the day. He can't remember what he was doing on V-J day. But he recalls details, but not the dates of them; a 15 inch centipede in his tent, when his canoe floundered on the Sittang, when Nine section captured its first Japanese POW, he definitely remembers a section member taking the man's watch.
These are probably fallible memories, but it's their honesty that makes Fraser human, and it's what makes this memoir worth reading.

Fraser has captured the enlisted man's war in Burma for all time. It would be nice to see an 8th Army veteran recall the Desert War.

Fraser also like Audie Murphy's "To Hell and Back" uses a great deal of dialogue in catching the eccentrities of the Cumbrian borderers of his section. He changes their names (Murphy did too) something common in war memoirs. However, American readers might stumble over what the men are saying, but while GMF admits that it's not an exact reconstruction of what was spoken, "most of it {the dialogue) obviously is not...it is entirely faithful in gist, subject and style." This is of course, true, but one feels that GMF caught the higher truth of what life was like and as it was lived in the British Army in Burma. The eminent historian John Keegan rates "Quartered Safe Out Here" better than Manchester's "Goodbye Darkness" and E.B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed," an opinion I do not necessarily share, but I do admire this book tremendously.

This is a great introduction to the war in Burma and a wonderful glimpse into life in the British Army in World War II.

To start with i would like to say that i loved bothe the princess and the goblin, and the princess and curdie, so i have nothing agains mcdonald in general. i thought that i would love this book, and i liked the beginning, but after that it started to go downhill. the story wasn't bad, but most of the characters were. the king, even though it said he was kind, only showed meaness and cloesed mindedness. the queen was also closeminded and did nothing when her husband bullied her. and the princess only cared about her self. even though that was part of the curse, it still annoyed me that she could be so shallow. i have no idea what the prince saw in her. despite these faults the story still had a good moral and wasn't a totaly bad read, all in all it could have better, but it could have been a lot worse too.

George MacDonald was a Scottish clergyman of the mid-to-late 19th century, now known best for a variety of children`s fantasies, such as The Princess and the Goblin (recently made into a moderately successful animated feature), The Princess and Curdie, and the remarkable At the Back of the North Wind, as well as such adult novels as Lilith. Those are novels, but he also wrote some shorter pieces, perhaps aimed at a slightly younger audience (though very enjoyable for all ages). The Light Princess is one of these. (Another is The Golden Key: both books are available in very attractive Sunburst paperback editions, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak).

It is the tale of a princess who is cursed by a mean, jealous, witch so that she has no gravity. The book is full of puns, so MacDonald makes much both of her weightlessness, and the lack of gravity in her character. Naturally her parents are upset and try to have her cured, but to no avail (although the efforts of a couple of Chinese philosophers to provide a cure are rendered amusingly). However the Princess is quite happy with her "light" state (of course it is in her nature to be always happy). In the way of things, a Prince appears, and falls in love with the Princess. Then the witch realizes that her curse has failed to make the Princess unhappy, so she takes further steps, which are thwarted by the selfless behavior of the Prince, and which result in the Princess recovering her gravity: not an unmixed blessing, but one which her new maturity allows her to realize is best in the long run.

This is a delightful story, told with just the right mixture of whimsy and mildly serious moral comment. The characters are lightly and accurately drawn (the Princess` parents and the Chinese philosophers in particular, are delightful), and the story is predictable but still quite imaginative, with a number of nice touches to do with the Princess` weightlessness. Maurice Sendak`s illustrations are wonderful as usual.

When I received this as a gift, I had already read and thoroughly delighted in "At the Back of the North Wind," "The Princess and the Goblin," "The Princess and Curdie," and "The Golden Key." When you read MacDonald, if your heart is right, you feel sheltered--the world he creates for you is as trustworthy and pure as C. S. Lewis's Narnia or Rivendell of Tolkien's Middle Earth. At the same time, you feel challenged to transform your own world and make it more like MacDonald's.

I was expecting another dose of the same awe-inspiring goodness without false piety or preachiness that is MacDonald's literary legacy. In "The Light Princess," however, there was an unexpected ingredient--a sharp wit that pervades the whole book and made me laugh out loud more than once. In a modern world where wit and vulgarity are viewed as conjoined twins, how satisfying a book this is! MacDonald infused delicious humor into his characters without losing the innocence. I fell in love with this book by page three, and it has surpassed "The Princess and the Goblin" as my favorite work of George MacDonald.

The fact that my favorite illustrator of all time, Maurice Sendak, added his talents to this book is icing on the cake. Sendak always grabs the heart and soul of the written work and renders it into drawings too evocative to be believed. The drawing of the prince with only his head above the water took my breath away, and in one fabulous illustration, the hilarious expression on the face of the gravity-deprived infant princess as she floats away reflects the hilarity of the story itself.

If some of MacDonald's other stories have turned you off because they are too long, too "deep" or whatever, don't miss this treasure as a result. It is MacDonald-Light, and by that I mean not only easy to read, but typically illumined with beauty and truth. Plus, it's a love story that pokes fun of its own sentimentality. Anyone not brain-dead and heart-numb ought to adore it.

I found this book while I was reading my way through the library's fairy tale shelf. I didn't understand any of the symbolism at the time, but I still liked it. I don't understand all of it even now, but the more I read (especially of C.S. Lewis, who admired MacDonald's work), the more interesting the book becomes. I like the way the shadow-lands idea seen here gets more fleshed out in C.S. Lewis' Narnia book The Last Battle, and both are probably derived from the cave allegory in Plato.

Some people will probably be turned off by the allegorical aspect. I think of it as an interesting little puzzle.

Afterward by W. H. Auden. This "great work" as C.S. Lewis described The Golden Key, tells of a boy and a girl, and their mysterious journey. J.R.R. Tolkien said "The magical, the fairy story . . . may be made a vehicle of Mystery. This at least is what George MacDonald attempted, achieving stories of power and beauty when he succeeded, as in The Golden Key." I heartily agree as did my children!

Since the story "The Golden Key" can be found in several collections of MacDonald's fairy tales, this book's main strength lies in Maurice Sendak's illustrations. These black and white drawings by the creator of "Where The Wild Things Are" add a touch of whimsey to this rather obscure short story by the Victorian novelist/pastor/poet. Like all of MacDonald's fantasies, this adventure about a boy and a girl who are looking for the land where the shadows fall can be read and enjoyed on multiple levels.

There really is no feeling like that of picking up an as-yet-unread novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is one of delicious certainty: you will be entertained, you will be informed, and you will be charmed. Unfortunately I can only expect to have this experience a couple of more times in my life, as there just isn't that much left of his that I haven't read anymore. Alas, alas, alas.

The locale in this one is the wild English/Scottish borderlands in 1598. Although England was mostly settled and Scotland was mostly settled, the midlands--under the jurisdiction of neither--were not, and bands of thieves and brigands--reivers--roamed about, terrorizing the countryside.

For characters there is Luis Guevara, the teller of the tale and the meek priest of the Dacre estate, located in the middle of these badlands; there is Lord Ralph Dacre, the white-haired, crimson-clad Red Bull, Lord of the Estate, and scourge of the thieves; there is Lady Margaret Dacre, sharp-witted, fire-breathing, and newly come to the estate after the untimely death of her father; and there is finally Archie Noble Waitabout, a broken man, thief, and he who proved to be the Great Lady's protector.

For plot there is the death of the Red Bull, "shot . . . through with calivers, nine balls in his body, and he let die by the roadside." Lady Margaret, bred in courtly London, comes to the estate and on the date of her arrival finds that the thieves are already attempting to reinstitute their filthy blackmail on her timid villagers. Those charged with helping her find excuses not to, for various reasons, but primarily because of their unstated fear of the dreaded Nixon clan. She turns to the imprisoned Waitabout, who in exchange for his life, agrees to go to the village and defend it.

For language, there is the incomparable GMF, this time using the lingo of an educated Scot of the 16th Century, duplicating the feat of his bravura linguistic performance in Black Ajax. And there is his descriptive power, here, the narrator's first view of the village: "A sorry pack they were, the men-folk stout enough but dirty and ill-clad, the women as slatternly as I ever saw, and if there were three pairs of shoon among them it was enough."

And the description of the battle itself, enough to make your blood run cold: "There was a great commotion about the bearded Nixon, him that was the leader and called Ill Will, and they tugged him all ways, some saying he should hang and others for having at him with their blades . . . they dragged him to the great dunghill that lay beside the cattle pen, and there heaved him up, and drave him down head foremost into the filth, and held him there."

There you have it, another great GMF novel, this one without the romantic playfulness of the Flashman novels, but still with the driving narrative, expert use of the language, and superb research. You cannot go wrong with this author. He has easily reached the stature of his heroes: Stevenson, Doyle, Sabatini, and Dumas. Indeed, he may stand above them.

After reading QUARTERED SAFE OUT HERE, the best personal world war two recollection I have ever read about the British campaign against the Japanese, I was extremely interested in learning more of the history of the people he led, the Borderers. (The Engish charged and the Germans ran. The Germans charged and the English ran. The Kings Own Borderers charged and everybody ran.) I then read STEEL BONNETS, Fraser's history of the people he had led in that war. It was fascinating. I wondered why he didn't write one of his great stories based on what he had researched. Then I found out about CANDLEMASS ROAD. I ordered it and awaited it with great anticipation. When it arrived, I went through it in an afternoon. I have rarely been so disappointed by a favorite author. I want the publisher to slap Fraser on both cheeks and tell him to " march right back into that room and finish the book". What was written is better than anything Fraser has ever written I know, from my reading, that Fraser admires CAPTAIN BLOOD as a great adventure novel. I agree with him. The story he wrote here is as good as anything written by Sabatini and it left me with a feeling of great dismay when it ended before its time. What he sets up here is one of the great hisorical novels.

But it ends up feeling like what could have been an appendage (here's what I think it might have been like) to STEEL BONNETS. If you are a Fraser fan, order it and enjoy. If you are a Border fan, order it and enjoy. If you are an historical novel by a reliable author fan, write to the publisher and demand that the author be required to to tell us the end of the story of Lady Dacre, the Broken man, Wattie and the Bailiff. The use of the English language is some of the best I have ever encountered ( I am an O'Brian fan) and the rendering of the Scottish the most accessible since Farnol.

This is both a review of The Candlemass Road and a sharp disagreement with the previous reviewer. I have read all of Mr. Fraser's books, (save only Quartered Safe Out Here), and count Mr. Fraser as one of my favorite writers. He is a master storyteller, who grabs readers and pulls them along, with breakneck action alternating with insightful looks into humankind - often in the same sentence. And, of course, Mr. Fraser is funny. The Pyrates may be one of the laugh-out-loud, funniest books ever written.

The Candlemass Road is by far George MacDonald Fraser's most powerful book. In a few short pages, Mr. Fraser sets the premise, the scene and the characters. While loaded with tense action sequences,this is primarily a study of character and of situational ethics. It is a study of a uncertain land in an uncertain time, told through the eyes of an aged, flock-less priest. The story is based on the horrors faced on a daily basis by the inhabitants of the Borderlands between Scotland and England at the end of the sixteenth century - the history of which was ably explored in Mr. Fraser's The Steel Bonnets. (If you enjoyed that book, you'll love this one.)

The protagonist, young Lady Margaret Dacre, must use all of her wit and power to protect her folk from a band of Scots reivers - on the very day she returns to her ancestral seat after seventeen years at Court. Lady Margaret uses the tools available, and learns a valuable lesson about life on the borders, and the "custom of the country".

The previous reviewer felt that the story ended just when it was getting going. I could not disagree more strongly. The book ended because the story ended. One paragraph more would have been too much. The reader does not need to be told what happens next.

The characters are fully developed; the action is intense; the interplay between the main characters is electric. This book grabbed me on page one, and left me shaking at the last word. This is a fabulous book. Buy it so Mr. Fraser will write more. Then read it. Then read it again. Five stars.

A children's story that may be read on several different level's, North Wind is a timeless work of literature. Eagerly anticipated and listened to by the children I read it to, the story also strikes deeply at our adult sense of spirituality. This is the kind of writing that brings back the rewarding closeness of reading aloud to others. Too bad we don't do more of this.

This children's book has had a profound impact on my faith and spirituality. It is a book I have read and re-read over the years, especially when I am struggling with my faith. The story, Diamond's relationship with the North Wind, satisfies one on an almost mystical level. Its simple, beautiful story leaves one knowing that no matter what happens in the world, God is God; and we can rest assured that He is in control. We can be at peace, in spite of the pain and evil in the world.

Don't look for answers. Simply read the story and let it wash over you. If you have the faith of a child, you will not be unaffected.

This enchanting classic is as lively and moving to read as the day it was written. There is no Victorian stodginess or moralizing here. I remember reading an essay where Simone Weil lamented over the difficulty of portraying goodness in literature--in fiction evil seemed to dominate. Well here in the character of the lad Diamond is one of the most convincing evocations of human goodness and saintliness in literature, childrens' or adult. One is reminded of St. Francis of Assisi when contemplating Diamond; his purity, innocense, and unselfconsciousness float right off the page. I especilly call your attention to the dialogue between Diamond and his mother on the beach as she tries hopelessly to explain to him that now they are poor. His sublimely worldly (and yet otherworldly )responses are both hilarious and deeply moving. One of MacDonald's core beliefs, so often and passionately stated throughout his writings, is here given flesh and blood: goodness is truth.

The dialect which popped up over and over in Donal Grant was tricky and difficult. Sometimes one can guess the meaning by the context. "Muckle" of the time it is difficult to do that.
The author does a significant amount of moralizing all through the story, and sometimes his points of doctrine are downright weird! They definitely cannot be called orthodox views by any means.
The story, nevertheless, is filled with intrigue. Somehow that was enough to keep my attention through all several hundred pages of it.

. . . seems to be my favorite. Has a lot of different sermonettes that appeal to me, and truth that has satisfied me when I was searching for truth hungrily. I remember the last chapter particularly. There are some beautiful pictures in this book--I guess you could call it "mystical". In the "scary" parts, I remember Donal's courage; and I admire Donal's boldness in various situations throughout the book. Donal wasn't afraid to respectfully disagree with others on doctrine. This story is vivid in my mind and I love it!

I have just finished this book and I do think it is my favorite one by this author. Be prepared, because it is some 800 pages long, but you are never disappointed either with the story line or the author's spiritual asides which read almost like a devotional. The main thrust of the story is about a young tutor named Donal Grant who leaves home after finishing college and sets out on foot to make his way in the world to a nearby coastal town in Northeastern Scotland. He meets a shoemaker who becomes his spiritual mentor, and finds employment and lodging in the nearby castle. As the story progresses we meet a reclusive, drug addicted uncle, his beautiful but spiritually dull niece, and his spoiled and brash son who is up to all kinds of naughty flirting with the shoemaker's daughter.

The most appealing part of this novel is the element of the supernatural which Mr. MacDonald brings in. There are ghost noises, somnabulisms, secret rooms and passages, murder, scandal, and ghost stories and legends. Ghosts to George MacDonald represent part of the vast region of the Spirit which exists beside and beyond our own, and he never posits their accual existence. They are never a source of evil power or fear because all things exist by the power and will of God.

Get this book, it is well worth the very low price. There are parts (perhaps 15%) which are written in Scotch dialect, but it makes the book that much more interesting that you have to use your brain a little to recognize what is being said.