Frankly, I had not the slightest idea of who John Brown (the Angel of the Lord) was when I began reading the book, although I had some vague idea that his body lay mouldering in the grave, so Harry Flashman’s latest adventure served to plug a huge gap in my historical knowledge while also, as usual, being a marvellous romp through the trouble spots and boudoirs of the 19th century.

It turns out that John Brown was an abolitionist who decided to launch a raid on a US army armoury at Harper’s Ferry, steal the weapons there and give them to slaves, sparking off a slave rebellion. It was a mad idea and, sure enough, it failed; few slaves joined the rebellion and Harper was captured, tried and executed. But in his death, Harper became a martyr for the abolitionist cause, pushing both sides towards the fateful Civil War that started a year and a half later.

Flashman is the bemused witness to this all: a man less inclined to lay down his life for a principle than Harry Flashman is difficult to imagine but Fraser’s great skill is to show Flashman’s reluctant admiration for Brown’s mad courage, while maintaining Flashman’s own personal cowardice.

There’s also a welcome (although not for Flashman) reappearance by Harry’s old adversary, John Charity Spring, erstwhile professor at Oxford, now slave dealer and ship’s captain.

By this novel, the tenth in the series, we know what to expect. While Flashman and the Angel of the Lord doesn’t do anything new, what it does do, it does with Fraser’s usual skill.