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Digital Audiobook
Black Ajax by George MacDonald Fraser

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Black Ajax

Narrator
Colin Mace
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Publish Date
24 September 2015
Run Time
10 hours 27 minutes
Format
Audiobook

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What to expect

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.

Critics Review

  • ‘Mr Fraser is a great historical novelist and in Black Ajax he is at the very top of his form. Damme if he ain’t.’
    Christopher Matthew, Daily Mail

    ‘This is not a flashy novel, wearing its learning noisily. It’s rigorous, intelligent, meticulously horrifying. Wonderfully well done.’
    Nicci Gerrard, Observer

User Reviews

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Details

Author
George MacDonald Fraser
Narrator
Colin Mace
Duration
10 hours 27 minutes
Release Date
24 September 2015
ISBN
9780008113209
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Genre
Classic fiction: literary and general, Historical fiction, Sports fiction, Historical adventure fiction, Fiction / Literature / Comics / Graphic novels: special features, Narrative theme: coming of age

Synopsis

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.

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