George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser (born 1926 in Carlisle, England) is a writer of Scottish descent. He writes both historical novels and non-fiction books.
He worked as a journalist and served in the British army in World War II. He also wrote several screenplays. He was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1999.
He is most famous for the Flashman series. This is a series of historical novels purportedly written by the fictional character, Harry Flashman (originally created by Thomas Hughes in his book Tom Brown's School Days). The books are presented as "packets" of memoirs written by the nonagenarian Flashman, looking back on his days as a hero of the British army during the 19th century. For the books published in this series, see Flashman.
His other books include:
- Quartered Safe Out Here, a memoir of the author's experiences as an infantryman in the Border Regiment in India and Burma during World War II
- The "Dand MacNeill" or "McAuslan" stories, an indirect continuation of Quartered Safe Out Here. Essentially a humorous fictionalized memoir of the author's experiences as an officer in the Gordon Highlanders in North Africa and Scotland soon after World War II, it is composed of three short story compilations (some of the stories were originally bylined "Dand MacNeill)":
- The General Danced at Dawn (1970)
- McAuslan in the Rough (1974)
- The Sheikh and the Dustbin (1986)
- The Steel Bonnets, a history of the Border Reivers of the Anglo-Scottish Border.
- The Hollywood History of the World: From One Million Years B.C. to Apocalypse Now. A large coffee table format book that discusses how Hollywood deals with history. An overview and critique of several more or less historical films made by American and British companies
- The Pyrates, a novel incorporating all the possible buccaneer film plots into one.
- Black Ajax, a novel about a 19th century black prizefighter in England. (As in Mr. American, this novel is also connected to the Flashman series - in this case Sir Harry Flashman's father plays a minor role.)
- Mr. American, a novel about a mysterious American in England, including his dealings with General Flashman
- Candlemass Road, a short novel about the Border Reivers of the 16th century
- Light's on at Signpost (2002), a memoir of the author's days writing in Hollywood
He wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for:
- The Three Musketeers (1973)
- The Four Musketeers (1974)
- Royal Flash (1975, adapted from his novel)
- Octopussy (1983)
- Red Sonja (1985)
- The Return of the Musketeers (1989)