102 ratings | 4 reviews | avg rating:3.91

Robert Brightwell’s Followers (63)

Robert’s Bookshelves

to-read (3)
currently-reading (0)
read (115)
written (13)

Robert’s Friends (6)

Bruce

284 books | 159 friends

Simon

155 books | 171 friends

Lorraine Bailey

87 books | 5 friends

Robert Brokenmouth

342 books | 20 friends

Pam Tatla

11 books | 8 friends

Andrew

2,097 books | 146 friends

Robert Brightwell

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United Kingdom

January 01

Website

http://www.robertbrightwell.com

Genre

Historical Fiction

Influences

George MacDonald Fraser, Bernard Cornwell

Member Since

February 2012

edit data

I am a firm believer in the maxim that history is stranger than fiction. There are countless times when I have come across a character or incident that has been so hard to believe that I have had to search out other sources for confirmation. Thomas Cochrane who features in my first book is one of those, his real life adventures seem ridiculously far fetched for a fictional character. The Begum of Samru from my second book is another: a fifteen-year-old nautch dancer who gained the confidence of an army, had a man literally kill himself over her and who led her soldiers with skill and courage, before becoming something of a Catholic saint.

History is full of amazing stories and in my books I try to do my bit to tell some of them. When I thoug I am a firm believer in the maxim that history is stranger than fiction. There are countless times when I have come across a character or incident that has been so hard to believe that I have had to search out other sources for confirmation. Thomas Cochrane who features in my first book is one of those, his real life adventures seem ridiculously far fetched for a fictional character. The Begum of Samru from my second book is another: a fifteen-year-old nautch dancer who gained the confidence of an army, had a man literally kill himself over her and who led her soldiers with skill and courage, before becoming something of a Catholic saint.

History is full of amazing stories and in my books I try to do my bit to tell some of them. When I thought of a vehicle to do so, the Flashman series from George MacDonald Fraser came to mind. Most of what I know of the Victorian era was prompted by his books. The concept of a fictional character witnessing and participating in real historical events, while not unique, has rarely been done better.

George MacDonald Fraser was an exceptional writer and he developed a character that he took from Tom Brown's School Days into a truly legendary figure. While Harry Flashman might not have been a typical Victorian, he certainly brought the period to life. For me, the Regency/Napoleonic era was one of even greater colour and extremes and so I have created a new earlier member of the family: Thomas Flashman.

There are similarities between the generations in that they both have the uncanny knack of finding themselves in the hotspots of their time, often while endeavouring to avoid them. Thomas though is not exactly the same character as Harry Flashman, this is partly accidental and partly deliberate.

For example, Harry Flashman makes prolific use of the 'n' word which will never appear in my work. This is not just political correctness but reflects the different times the two fictional characters occupy. While Harry Flashman in India thrashed and abused the natives; in Thomas' time many British were in business with Indian partners or had Indian wives. The British Resident of Delhi went so far as to marry a harem of thirteen Indian women who used to parade around the city every evening on elephants.

As several reviewers have pointed out Thomas is not quite the vicious villainous rogue his nephew became, at least in the first book. But the character develops more in the subsequent books with increasing levels of skulduggery. The genius of George MacDonald Fraser was to create a spiteful bully that the reader could still relate to. I have tried to convey a character that lived in his time and who balanced cowardice, pride, lust etc with the need to bring the reader with him.

For more information, check out my website, www.robertbrightwell.com
...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Robert Brightwell questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Robert Brightwell’s books

Average rating: 4.25 · 3,264 ratings · 204 reviews · 24 distinct works • Similar authors

	Flashman and the Seawolf 4.05 avg rating — 653 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flashman and the Cobra 4.25 avg rating — 459 ratings — published 2012 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flashman in the Peninsula 4.25 avg rating — 334 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flashman's Escape 4.20 avg rating — 284 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flashman's Waterloo 4.43 avg rating — 268 ratings — published 2016 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flashman and Madison's War 4.18 avg rating — 262 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flashman at the Alamo 4.42 avg rating — 190 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flashman and the Golden Sword 4.43 avg rating — 187 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flashman and the Zulus 4.38 avg rating — 184 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flashman and the Emperor 4.28 avg rating — 186 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Robert Brightwell…

Series by Robert Brightwell

Adventures of Thomas Flashman (11 books)
by

Robert Brightwell (Goodreads Author)

4.24 avg rating — 3,143 ratings

rss
Robert’s Recent Updates

Robert rated a book it was amazing Beyond the Reach of Empire: Wolseley's Failed Campaign to Save Gordon and Khartoum by Mike Snook	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 22, 2024 03:31AM · 1 like · like
Robert has read Assignment Sudan by Robert Brightwell (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 22, 2024 03:24AM · like

More of Robert's books…

Quotes by Robert Brightwell (?)

“Normally a man who looks to me for leadership in time of battle is destined to be disappointed,”
― Robert Brightwell, Flashman and Madison's War

0 likes

Robert’s Quotes

“There's a point, you know, where treachery is so complete and unashamed that it becomes statesmanship.”
― George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman and the Mountain of Light

73 likes

“If anything she was a shade too plump, but she knew the ninety-seven ways of making love that the Hindus are supposed to set much store by―though mind you, it is all nonsense, for the seventy-fourth position turns out to be the same as the seventy-third, but with your fingers crossed.”
― George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman

tags: positions, sex

27 likes