subsequent career as a British officer at the centre of many of the wars that Britain fought in the Victorian era (including the Indian Mutiny and the Afghan and Sikh Wars). In each novel Flashy is publicly acclaimed as a great hero, winning fame and fortune in the service of the Empire. Only the reader is aware of Flashman’s true character, that of a cheat, a liar, a coward and a cad. His disreputable personality satirises of the cult of the Victorian hero. By the late 1960s, deference and empire had disappeared and Flashman, the roguish antihero, reflected the prevailing mood of the time. Whatever Flashman’s views on empire, Fraser himself regretted its loss, describing modern Britain as “a country which passed in less than a lifetime from being the mightiest empire in history, governing a quarter of mankind, to being a feeble little offshore island whose so-called leaders have lost the will and the courage, indeed the ability, to govern at all.” 4 So, has history passed her final judgement on the former heroes of the Raj? The answer is, of course, that there can never be any final judgements in history. Future generations will judge these men with fresh insights and interpretations, which may move away from impulsive veneration or vilification. As British India fades from living memory, there may be a chance to look anew at the posthumous reputations of those who walked upon its stage. On the outskirts of Delhi you can still find the site of the great Durbar attended by George V in 1911. Neither my local guide nor my taxi-driver had ever heard of it but we found our way there eventually. Like the site of Nicholson’s grave, it is a desolate place. It was here that the municipal authorities had placed statues of British rulers that were removed from the city after independence. And it is here that they still stand – an emperor and a clutch of viceroys, governors and generals - abandoned and forlorn, in a sorry semi-circle within a nondescript wasteland.
The 1911 Imperial Durbar celebrating the accession of King-Emperor George V.
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