The Flashman Papers 1856--58, Volume Five

What caused the Indian Mutiny? The greased cartridge, religious fanaticism, political blundering, yes -- but one hitherto unsuspected factor is now revealed in the furtive figure which fled across the Indian scene in 1857 with such frantic haste: Flashman. For Flashman, plumbing new depths of anxious knavery in his role as secret agent extraordinary, saw far more of the Great Mutiny than he wanted to. How he survived his adventures and inevitable flights from Thugs and Tsarist agents, Eastern beauties and Cabinet ministers, and kept his skin intact, is a mystery as remarkable as The Flashman Papers themselves. This chapter sees him passing through his most harrowing ordeal to his supreme triumph, with Courage, Duty and Honour toiling dispiritedly in his wake.