As this is written I'm about three chapters into the book. The book is in the first person, and to hear Flashman talk he has been everywhere and done everything! He reminds me of a song I'll post here. (Trust me, this leads to a question!)

Chorus: I was born about ten thousand years ago
There ain't nothing in this world that I don't know
I saw Peter, Paul and Moses playing Ring Around the Roses
And I'll whup the guy who says it isn't so.

I'm just a lonesome traveler, the great historical bum
Highly educated, through history I come
I built the Rock of Ages, twas in the year of one
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done

I saw Adam and Eve before they knew the score,
It was I designed the fig leaves that they wore,
And from behind the bushes peeping, saw the apple they was eating
And I swear that I'm the guy what ate the core

Well, I built the Garden of Eden, it was in the year of two
Joined the Apple Pickers Union and I always paid my dues
I'm the man who signed the contract to raise the rising sun
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done

I taught Samson how to use his mighty hands
I showed Columbus to this mighty land
And for Phaoroh's little kiddies built all the pyramiddies
And to the Sahara carried all the sand.

I was straw boss on the pyramids, the Tower of Babel too,
I opened up the ocean, let the migrant children through,
Well, I fought a million battles and I never lost a one'
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done

I taught Solomon his little A B Cs
I'm the first one who ate Limburger cheese
And while sailing down the bay with Methuselah one day
I saved his flowing whiskers from the breeze

Well I was in the Revolution that set this country free
It was me and a couple of Indians who dumped the Boston tea
I fought the battle of Valley Forge and the Battle of Bully Run
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done

Queen Elizabeth fell dead in love with me
We were married in Milwaukee secretly
But I snuck around and shook her, and went off with General Hooker
To go shooting 'skeeters down in Tennessee.

I'm just a lonesome traveler, the great historical bum
Highly educated, through history I come
I built the Rock of Ages, twas in the year of one
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: shufitz,

So here's my question: Are we supposed to believe

• (suspending disbelief) that Flashman really had all these exploits?
• Or that he's telling a great story and, with literary license, putting himself in it to tell the tale with first-person immediacy?
• Or that he is a bit titched, has one heck of a fantasy life, and actually believes that he had the exploits he describes?

The exploits are chronicled in the "who's who" entry that is reproduced at the front of most editions so while GMF has created a hero who has indeed done everything and been everywhere we are supposed to take Flashman's accounts as being the first true account of how such a horrible person came to be the most lauded hero of his age.

It's extremely rare for GMF to be caught out in either a historical error or a date problem. It's technically possible that one man could have been in all those places and done all those things as there is never a contradiction in the dates involved.

Fraser wrote the footnotes, too, right? I find it a bit odd that the footnotes sometimes question the veracity of some of the details. I suppose that's to make it more realistic. What do you think?

The footnotes are supposed to be added by the editor of Flashman's diaries. As such, he would be expected to query any apparent inconsistences. In actual fact, of course, GMF is the author of the footnotes as well.