Wodehouse said of Flashman, 'If ever there was a time when I felt that ' watcher-of-the-skies-when-a-new-planet' stuff, it was when I read the first Flashman.' The series is notable for the accuracy of its historical settings and praise it received from critics. There was a series of further Flashman novels, presented as packets of memoirs written by the nonagenarian Flashman looking back on his days as a hero of the British Army during the 19th century. He moved to the Isle of Man where he could pay less tax. The book proved popular and sale of the film rights enabled Fraser to become a full-time writer. In 1966, Fraser got the idea to turn Flashman, a fictional coward and bully originally created by Thomas Hughes in Tom Brown's School Days (1857), into a hero, and he wrote a novel around the character's exploits.

He briefly held the title of acting editor. Starting in 1953, Fraser worked for many years as a journalist at the Glasgow Herald newspaper, where he was deputy editor from 1964 until 1969. They travelled to Canada, working on newspapers there, before returning to Scotland. Through his father he got a job as a trainee reporter on the Carlisle Journal and married another journalist, Kathleen Hetherington. He wrote semi-autobiographical stories and anecdotes of his time with the Gordon Highlanders in the 'McAuslan' series.Īfter his discharge, Fraser returned to the United Kingdom. In 1947, Fraser decided against remaining with the army and took up his demobilisation. He served with them in the Middle East and North Africa immediately after the war, notably in Tripoli. After completing his Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU) course, Fraser was granted a commission into the Gordon Highlanders. In 1943, during World War II, Fraser enlisted in the Border Regiment and served in the Burma campaign, as recounted in his memoir Quartered Safe Out Here (1993). This meant that he was unable to follow his father's wishes and study medicine. įraser was educated at Carlisle Grammar School and Glasgow Academy he later described himself as a poor student due to 'sheer laziness'. It was his father who passed on to Fraser his love of reading, and a passion for his Scottish heritage.

His father was a doctor and his mother a nurse. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman.įraser was born to Scottish parents in Carlisle, England, on 2 April 1925. George MacDonald Fraser OBE FRSL (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter.

New flashman books