FLASHMAN AT THE CHARGE by GEORGE MACDONALD FRASER 286 pages. Knopf. $6.95.
Cannons to the right of him, cannons to the left of him, Flashy is back in the saddle again. Saber up, pants down, his wit a well-stropped razor, he careers through the fourth installment of his adventures as the British Empire's raciest, cheekiest hero.
Like the three previous "packets" of fictional Flashman memoirs (Author Fraser pretends to be nothing more than
His Scapegrace's editor), this yarn is a thorough, almost scholarly pastiche of Victorian lingo and manners. It fairly reeks of historical authenticity—and of blood—for Flashman, in his early 30s, is...