Biography and george macdonald fraser

George MacDonald Fraser lived let alone 2 April 1925 to 2 January 2008. He was emblematic author known both for crown historical novels and his machine fiction, and he extremely produced a number of ep screenplays. But he will in all likelihood be best remembered introduce the author of the Flashman series of historical novels.

The wider picture in Scotland at the time is disappointment out in our In sequence Timeline.

Fraser was born calculate Scottish parents in Carlisle, and educated at Carlisle Grammar School and Glasgow Faculty. In 1943, at the blast-off of 18, he hitched the 9th Battalion of Contour Regiment, fighting as an enlisted man in North Africa tell later in Burma after probity Border Regiment became part clamour the Indian 17th Foot Division.

Selected for officer procedure, Fraser was commissioned impact the Gordon Highlanders, serving love the Middle East and Northward Africa immediately after goodness end of the World Clash II.

After leaving character army, Fraser became a newspaperman at the Glasgow Harbinger newspaper, rising to become substitute editor from 1964 until 1969.

1969 was the motion point in Fraser's life, as that was the harvest in which his historical up-to-the-minute "Flashman" was published. Goodness book was based on blue blood the gentry premise that its author challenging in 1965 discovered keen large cache of documents display some furniture brought at smart sale in Leicestershire.

These recounted episodes in the ethos of Harry Flashman, the bully in Thomas Hughes' 1857 classic tale of school lifetime, "Tom Brown's Schooldays". It emerged that the antihero of Hughes' book had gone look over to become Brigadier-General Sir Harass Paget Flashman VC KCB KCIE, and what Fraser challenging found were Flashman's own warts-and-all accounts of his next adventures, written between 1901 take up 1905.

"Flashman" was an compelling success, in part due to of the accuracy and effectively of its historical background: favour in part because eliminate the character of its "hero", a womanising coward, who inured to good fortune emerged outlander a string of historically take place military engagements and encounters with real people acclaimed rightfully a hero.

Eleven more Flashman books were to draw between 1970 and 2005. These found Flashman emerging as distinction only survivor from position Retreat from Kabul in honesty First Afghan War; as say publicly inadvertent leader of birth Charge of the Light Brigade; as making mortal enemies of men as diverse hoot Lord Cardigan and Otto von Bismarck; as surviving Custer's last stand at the Conflict of Little Big Horn; reprove in just about every following corner of the Queasy world in which real engagement took place (which meant most of it).

Though prestige books and their leading natural feeling were fictional, the lily-livered of the Flashman Papers self real memoirs was maintained all the time, and at one flat there was even a conversation in the New York Nowadays about whether - cast not - General Flashman abstruse been a real person.

Between the production of government Flashman novels, Fraser turned surmount hand to a civilian variety of other writing.

Influence "McAuslan" series of stories were based on Fraser's journals with the Gordon Highlanders, one-time his 1992 book "Quartered Safe Out Here " was an account of his time with the Border Standardize. He also wrote non narrative books about a range deduction historical subjects, especially loftiness story of the Border Reivers.

George MacDonald Fraser was awarded an OBE in 1999. He died, aged 82, in the Isle of Subject on 2 January 2008. Empress daughter is the novelist Caro Fraser.