Harry Flashman is, without exception, the least PC hero of all time. With an unkind lense you might even be able to call him a villain.
Flashman is the protagonist of a series of irreverent historical novels set in 19th century Britain. The first book was published in 1969, well before the takeover of the woke patrol. The character and books were created by author George MacDonald Fraser. Fraser is the screenwriter behind the Bond flick Octopussy. The name alone tells you all you need to know about his tone.
Flashman is a charming but unscrupulous British Army officer defined by his cowardice and knack for finding himself in the middle of history. Despite, or because of, his flaws, Flashman's adventures provide a satirical and humorous take on the Victorian era.
Throughout the series, Flashman navigates war and intrigue, encountering historical figures such as Otto von Bismarck, Abraham Lincoln, and Queen Victoria. Geographically the books span from the gaming clubs of London to the mountains of the Hindu Kush. Fraser's portrayal of Flashman presents a military officer who succeeds through luck and sheer instinct rather than traditional valor. Despite this, he ends each novel as the public hero who gets the girl. Karma does NOT catch up to him.
He might be a secret coward, but what else makes Flashman so politically incorrect? First off, he’s got a bit of a thing for rape, both in the statutory and classic formats. When he can’t steal sex, he often buys it with prostitutes and sex slaves. Flashman is as racist and classist as you’d expect from an aristocrat of his era. He enjoys drinking, gambling, and dandyism. When inevitably pushed into a duel he either cheats or chickens out. Basically Flashman is every imaginable aspect of “toxic masculinity” in one Savile Row tailored package.
Despite all this, however, he’s somehow still lovable.
The British have always had a thing for scoundrels. Ian Fleming, the author behind the Bond series, is a prime example. Louche and lazy, he failed at pretty much everything, with the exception of bedding married women, until intelligence service in World War II gave him a purpose. After the war he went away to Jamaica to combine war stories with his luxurious personal lifestyle, creating Commander James Bond, the greatest British antihero. English history is filled with these sorts of rogues who get the job done despite a serious lack of moral virtue.
There’s also the fact that Flashman is entirely self aware. These novels are couched as discovered memoirs of a real individual. In the first installment, an eighty year old Flashman makes it known that he’s not a good person, but that these papers will be as truthful as possible given anyone’s memory. Who among us can really say that our private memoirs wouldn’t be judged at all harshly by history?
In the American worldview, protagonists have to be morally right on all fronts. Captain America and Superman don’t spend their evenings whoring, gambling, and guzzling champagne. There’s no appreciation for the lazy cheat or the lovable rogue. While this is probably the correct outlook, it doesn’t always lead to the most interesting literary characters.
The Flashman books first came into my life as a happy accident. My dad was looking to encourage reading and thought a classic adventure story would get my 13 year old mind engaged. He didn’t, however, check the content of the books. Suffice it to say they did indeed capture my teenage attention. For a young man, Flashman’s adventures seemed like the exact opposite of growing up with responsibly moral parents in respectable Cincinnati Ohio.
Sometimes I wish I could channel him more. He’s unapologetically selfish. In a world where we are told to think about others, the group, the community, thinking about what I want feels sort of good in a subversive way.
In 2024, these books are definitely worth revisiting. First off they are an entertaining read. Second, we live in a world totally saturated with sex, but unfortunately it's weird sex. If you want to hear about good ol fashioned offline heterosexuality these books are for you. They seem almost quaint compared to what surrounds us today.
Third, Flashman is indeed a coward, but his cowardice puts a spotlight on how terrifying war actually is. We have been lulled into complacency by sterile Marvel Movies and the era of Obama drone strikes to see war like a video game. Flashman really makes me wonder what I would do in a combat situation? As the powers that be continue to fixate on sending our boys into more foreign conflict, this is a worthwhile question to consider.
Finally, in our PC world anything heterodox to this norm is a welcome breath of fresh air. What could have once been considered untoward in the 20th century, feels more like a middle finger to the man in the 21st.