http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/new...6219&in_page_id=1770

This is a 2002 piece by George MacDonald Fraser, who passed away at the beginning of the year. I thought the community might be interested in how some people back in Britain see the world, and conservatism.

As a newcomer to Fraser and learning that Flashman was a minor (and brutish) character from the popular Tom Brown classic *Schooldays*, I think Fraser's genius was that he recognized the bully in Brown was exactly the anti-hero Brtian needed in 1969. Somewhere between Fleming/Bond and Lennon/McCartney, a regular guy might indeed better indentify with someone like Flashman, someone a bit wary of life threatening service to the State and dedication to higher causes, but equally turned off by the faux spirit of rebellion and the promised nirvana supposedly found in emerging sub-cultures. And just like Bond and the Beatles, Flashman, the cad and rogue, still gets the girl.