I have become a real fan of historical fiction. I guess it started in gradeschool when I had to read Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. Based on the bully in Tom Brown's Schooldays, George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series is a great romp through historical fiction during the 19th century British Empire. Unlike the heroes in the same genre such as Johnnie Tremain, C.S. Forester's midshipman Horatio Hornblower, Bernard Cornwell's rifleman Sharpe, and Patrick O'Brian's captain Jack Aubrey, Flashman is an accidental hero. <!-- pagebreak -->A womanizer and bully, it is Flashman's cowardice (if not his flatulance) that constantly propels him though each tale, and into the history books. Did you know that the Charge of the Light Brigade, with the heroic Flashman at the front, was actually started by Flashman's cowardly loose bowels and an enormous fart that scared his horse? There are over a dozen books in the series, taking Flashman through most of the British Empire and its campaigns, including India, Crimea, the West Indies, China and the US.
     For anyone that has read Patrick O'Brian, C.S. Forester's Hornblower series, starting with Mr.Midshipman Hornblower, is the original. Through about 11 books, Horatio Hornblower rises from midshipman to Admiral and Lord during the Napoleonic Wars. Although steeped in naval lore, it is less technical and more approachable than the sometimes too linguistically precise O'Brian. I read Midshipman 30 years ago in school and finally saw Hornblower happily into retirement last week. Forester is also the author of The African Queen, of which a movie was later made staring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn.