George MacDonald Fraser BLACK AJAX First Edition

First edition, first print hardback of BLACK AJAX by George MacDonald Fraser. Published by Harper Collins Publishers, London, in 1997. With full numberline 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 on the copyright page.?

The book is in very good condition (Clean black cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine), with minor wear to the illustrated dust jacket which is not price clipped (light creasing to the edges mainly around the spine). Internally, the pages are clean and tight and there are no tears and no inscriptions. There is a previous owner's bookplate attached to the front endpaper and light tanning to the pages.?

The author of the famous Flashman Papers and the Private McAuslan stories, George MacDonald Fraser has worked on newspapers in Britain and Canada. In addition to his novels he has also written numeous films, most notably The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, and the James Bond film, Octopussy. George Macdonald Fraser died in January 2008 at the age of 82.?

"In the spirit of Flashman and in the inimitable George MacDonald Fraser style comes a rousing story of prize fighting in the 19th century. Reissued in a stunning new package, Black Ajax will attract a new generation of fans.?

When Captain Buck Flashman sees the black boxer catch a fly in mid-flight he realizes that he is in the presence of speed such as the prize ring has never seen. Tom Molineaux may be crude and untutored, but if Mad Buck knows anything (and like his notorious son, the archcad Harry Flashman, he has an unerring eye for the main chance), this ex-slave from America is a Champion in the making, on whose broad shoulders the ambitious Captain can climb to sporting and social fame. Under his patronage, the Black Ajax is carried on a popular tide of sporting fever to his great dream: to fight the invincible, undefeated Champion of England, the great Tom Cribb.?

The story of Molineaux and his eventual battles with Cribb is told through a series of superbly original and individual voices colourful, powerful and funny. Together they create a magnificent picture of Regency England and a portrait of a flawed hero who surmounted the barriers of ignorance, poverty and race hatred to bring the prize ring a lustre it had never known before, and may never again."?

'Mr Fraser is a great historical novelist and in Black Ajax he is at the very top of his form. Damme if he aint. - Christopher Matthew, Daily Mail?

This is not a flashy novel, wearing its learning noisily. Its rigorous, intelligent, meticulously horrifying. Wonderfully well done. - Nicci Gerrard, Observer?

248 pages.?

ISBN: 0 00 225585 5?

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