Mr. American
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Mr. American Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 224 ratings
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Mr American is a swashbuckling romp of a novel. Mark Franklin came from the American West to Edwardian England with two long-barrelled .44s in his baggage and a fortune in silver in the bank. Where he had got it and what he was looking for no one could guess, although they wondered -- at Scotland Yard, in City offices, in the glittering theatreland of the West End, in the highest circles of Society (even King Edward was puzzled) and in the humble pub at Castle Lancing.

Tall dark and dangerous, soft spoken and alone, with London at his feet and a dark shadow in his past, he was a mystery to all of them, rustics and royalty, squires and suffragettes, the women who loved him and the men who feared and hated him. He came from a far frontier in another world, yet he was by no means a stranger! even old General Flashman, who knew men and mischief better than most, never guessed the whole truth about Mr American.

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  1. Listening Length
    23 hours and 53 minutes
  2. Author
    George MacDonald Fraser
  3. Narrator
    David Case
  4. Audible release date
    January 5, 2010
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B0032Z3LII
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 23 hours and 53 minutes
Author George MacDonald Fraser
Narrator David Case
Audible.com Release Date January 05, 2010
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0032Z3LII
Best Sellers Rank #122,986 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#961 in Historical Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals)
#3,546 in Historical Fantasy (Books)
#8,696 in Action & Adventure Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
224 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

J.M.P.
5.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2016
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Like most of the people who will probably read this book, I found out about George MacDonald Fraser through the Flashman Papers. If you liked Flashy and his exploits, I'd recommend "Mr. American," but I would caution you: it's NOT the same kind of novel. Fraser's meticulous attention to historical detail and vivid characterization are still on display, but another Victorian-era adventure this ain't.
How is "Mr. American" different? For starters, the main character is Mark Franklin, an American who made his fortune in silver and has decided to return to his roots in the English countryside. He's no Flashman-he's quiet, introspective, and a little naive about England and the English, particularly the moneyed gentry who become his social set. Secondly, "Mr. American" takes place between 1909 and 1914, the Edwardian era instead of the Victorian. And that's an important change, because there's the spectre of the Great War looming in the background, and that's brought home by encountering General Flashman himself! In some ways, Flashman's still the old rogue we always knew (he hasn't slowed down much for a man in his nineties), but underneath the Falstaff veneer is some bitter and hard-won wisdom that he shares with the American he befriends. As one of the few people in the story who's seen service, he's got an inkling of what's coming, and he doesn't like it a bit.
And that melancholy feeling extends throughout "Mr. American." Some of the bawdiness of the Flashman Papers is still there, but it feels tired now, a little dirty and a little desperate. Finally, "Mr. American" is a third-person novel, not a first-person one. You don't feel like you're being taken into the confidence of a storyteller with a leering wink like you did in the Flashman Papers; the reader, like Franklin, is a little removed from the scene.
Like I said, I recommend "Mr. American." It's a beautiful, melancholic portrait of the Edwardian age on its own, and a fitting send-off for Harry Flashman. Read it, but don't be surprised if you feel a little choked up at the end.
16 people found this helpful
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Steven M. Anthony
4.0 out of 5 stars A Cameo Appearance by Sir Harry Flashman
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2023
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After having read the twelve Flashman novels and enjoying them immensely, I order this book along with Black Ajax, penned by the same author.

The story follows Mark Franklin, an American prospector who hit it rich in the Nevada silver rush and has relocated to his ancestral home in England. Though Franklin is by no means an ignorant hillbilly, he is unfamiliar with upper class British ways, though he adopts far more gracefully than would most in his circumstances.

Of particular enjoyment is the periodic appearance of Sir Harry Flashman, now over 90 years old, but none the worse for wear. Flashman plays a relatively minor role in the story, but certainly casts a long shadow. There are several undercurrents at play during the course of the book, which I found intriguing and which did not always resolve as might be expected.

While this does not rise to the level of some of the better Flashman installments, it is still an enjoyable read.
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jkiac
5.0 out of 5 stars years after i finished it I'm still thinking about it
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2016
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Honestly, it took me awhile after i finished this book to know how i felt about it. its not an action or adventure novel. it's not historical mystery or romance. it's more than all of that. the protagonist is one of those rare people that not only wins the lottery but is able to keep his head and make the most of it. his dreams do come true but in this novel, like life, "there is no happily ever after". the story keeps evolving, the world keeps going, and people keep being who they are... years after i finished it I'm still thinking about it. that in my book is worth 5 stars.
9 people found this helpful
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Celia Hayes
5.0 out of 5 stars A rollicking tale
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2011
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This is an interesting look at the clash of two worlds, the old world of Edwardian England - settled, class-ridden and at the pinnicle of power ... and also weary, cynical and snobbish. Into this new world comes a man from the New - that world of frontier America, rough and ready, accustomed to lawlessness and violence ... and also a little naive. The "Mr. American" of the title has a mysterious past, but sufficient money to set up in a country house, to venture into that alien, glamorous world ... which in the end may turn out to be as hazardous to him as anything he encountered in his old life.
All this, and Harry Flashman, too - what more can you ask?
3 people found this helpful
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Elmer Fudd
3.0 out of 5 stars A stylistic cross between Flashman and a Victorian novel
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2013
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If one likes Fraser's 'Flashman' novels, there's a few bits of nonagenerian Flashie on display, no better or worse than usual. Otherwise, this book feels (partially correctly) as though it is mostly long internal monologues with thin characterizations interspersed along a plot line of mildly to wildly improbable events. It's not great literature, but it's not completely terrible given that it has just enough escapism value to make it worth the slog through the 585 pages.
One person found this helpful
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Syd
5.0 out of 5 stars Totally excellent book by George MacDonald Fraser
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2015
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Totally excellent book by George MacDonald Fraser. His Flashman series was the best humor I have read. This book carries on the story telling from there and even makes several references to the aged General Flashman.
One person found this helpful
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Homer West
4.0 out of 5 stars I suspect that is because this is a story that is anything but funny. Remember the old John Wayne Movie
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2017
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Disclaimer: Fraser was a force of nature and his works are generally some of the funniest things that I have ever read. This one doesn't seem to be very popular. I suspect that is because this is a story that is anything but funny. Remember the old John Wayne Movie, "The Shootist".....creating depression is art too, and incredible depression is serious art but I can only assimilate limited quantities of it. Usually Fraser sneaks the sadness carefully as in the last Flashman novel concerning the Ethiopian Campaign of 1868. Reading Mr. American reminded me of taking off on a cross-country road trip with no music save an Eight Track of Disintegration by the Cure.
2 people found this helpful
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Richard Peacock
5.0 out of 5 stars I received exactly what I ordered.
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2019
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The book was in marvelous shape . Even better than the listing gave as its condition.
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Top reviews from other countries

Tiberius Gracchus
2.0 out of 5 stars Why
Reviewed in Australia on November 28, 2020
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It was always going to suffer from the wait for Flashy. I don't quite know what was trying to be achieved. It's too slow to be thrilling, and too based on a single character to give a full tour of a fascinating and oft-overlooked part of British history.
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Nostromo
5.0 out of 5 stars A self indulgent masterpiece?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2009
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I admire George MacDonald Fraser considerably, and at times have been astonished at his range and perspective. Nevertheless, as with most of his output, whilst rich in historical detail, he has a tendency to use his characters to express his own views.

In this case the Mr American in question - Mark Franklin - is what could be termed as a device to illustrate the passing of one world to another. We join the story five years before the outbreak of World War I, during the twilight reign of Edward VII, in an Edwardian age of an England long gone but remembered as a time of civility and glorious empire. An age were the ruling classes had strong (though suspect) morals and behaviour, and the working classes were typical simple hard grafters who doffed their caps reverently.

The American arrives into this world seeking the roots which his ancestors fled during the English Civil War to begin a new life out west. He is stoic, softly spoken, tall dark, handsome and confident. He's also exceptionally rich through a combination of hard work and lucky strikes.

Mr Franklin however is no saint, and although he presents an image of solid dependability and rugged frontier values, his past is not as clean-cut as first appears. He is an amalgam of flawed heroes, staunch, upright survivors of a lawless wild west, with their own values and set of rules. GMF seems to have extracted him from the annals of American cowboy images and Hollywood idealism. The author has used this methodology elsewhere - in a lighter vein - The Pyrates being a prime example.

But back to Mr American. It is his wealth which inveigles him, somewhat naively into the English upper classes, where within he meets a variety of famous people of the era. Notably the king, his mistress Alice Keppel, a young Winston Churchill and several other eminent folk. Along the way he encounters non other than the elderly General Harry Flashman, and for many fans of his, this will be one reason for reading the book.

One wonders whether the observations made by Flashman are what would be expected of the old rogue, or is he merely a mouthpiece for the analytical author and a means to assess the state of a nation at the outcome of the Great War. The reader must decide. In any event, any fan of the Flashman Packets will rejoice in hearing the bounder wax lyrical, and be bemused how others regard him.

This is an evocative, beautifully related tale, and whilst the plot is stretched it is laced with rich dialogue and creates an accurate picture of a bygone age on the verge of change. The world in this book is about to change forever.

The pages turn delicately and unhurried, and reflect the pace of the times. There are moments of real excitement, but short lived, and lengthy periods of observation, discussion, and reflection.

Is it a great book? It's certainly a book worth reading, and it's surely a different book from what would normally be expected from GMF. Had he lived longer, perhaps he would have returned to the subject.

The reader will be left wanting more, and possibly feel utmost melancholy. Perhaps that was the intention all along. If so then it is a work of genius.
5 people found this helpful
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Diane Wolverson
4.0 out of 5 stars Very skilfully researched and written and closely accurate to history
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2019
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Have read Mr American twice now, last time about 15yrs ago. It is a slow starter but gets better and is full of intrigue. However your advertisement for it suggests it is part of the Flashman Papers, which it ain't, except that it was written by G M Fraser. I still recommend it though. Have read all the Flashman Papers several times, brilliant reads and will doubtless read them again.
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Mark
2.0 out of 5 stars Historical fiction that is very slow paced.
Reviewed in Canada on September 2, 2016
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I found the book kind of dragged a bit when reading it. The book had its interesting parts, particularly the historical description of the time and the age, but I'm not sure I would recommend it.
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Roger Dodgson
5.0 out of 5 stars was A great read! Well up to GMF standards.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2021
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Great story, well paced. Left me at the end, hoping that there could/ would be a sequel. A fast and furious story line, detailing upper class standards in Edwardian England and the very investing differences and social development between the UK and the USA. Thank goodness for Magna Carta.
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