Thomas F. (hardtack) -
Amazing how a sleeze bag can become one of the greatest adverturers of all time.
The "Flashman" stories combine a rather cautious would-be adventuresome protagonist/reluctant anti-hero whose 20th Century outlook on life and danger comes to grips in each novel with the exuberant and dangerous life and style in various historical settings; this setting is mid-19th Century China -- rebellion, opium, revolution, concubines, a murder plot on every other page. Great fun; ribald to the extent of more talk than action; softly offensive to those who wish to be offended.
