This means nothing to me

 . . . the whole quarter reeked of money, privilege, and luxury in doubtful taste. It was reckoned to be the richest Upper Ten outside London, and the two hundred families of princes, counts, and assorted titled trash spent ten million quid among ’em per annum, which ain’t bad for gaslight and groceries. They spent more, ate more, drank more, danced more, and fornicated more than any other capital on earth (and that's Fetridge* talking, not me) . . .

*Footnote 23. W. Pembroke Fetridge was the author of The American Traveller's Guide: Harper's Handbook for Travellers in Europe, which first appeared in 1862. Flashman probably had the 1871 edition.


Flashman and the Tiger, p.185, Harper Collins, paperback edition 2000.


Tags: Flashman, Flashman quotes, Vienna.

Heavy speculation

One thing I'm sure of: there was twice as much treasure destroyed as carried away, and we officers were too busy bagging our share to do anything about it. I daresay a philosopher would have made heavy speculation about the scene, if he'd had time to spare from filling his pockets.

Flashman in the Great Game, pp.265-6, Pan edition, 4th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes, loot.

Spoils of war

It was a great bloody carnival, with everyone making the most of the war: I recall one incident, in a Lucknow courtyard (I believe it may have been the Begum’s palace) in which I saw Highlanders, their gory bayonets laid aside, smashing open chests that were simply stuffed with jewels, and grinning idiot little Goorkhas breaking mirrors for sheer sport and wiping their knives on silks and fabrics worth a fortune – they didn’t know any better. There were Sikh infantry dancing with gold chains and necklaces round their necks, an infantry subaltern staggering under a great enameled pot overflowing with coins, a naval gunner bleeding to death with a huge shimmering bolt of cloth-of-gold clasped in his arms – there were dead and dying men everywhere, our own fellows as well as pandies, and desperate hand-to-hand fighting going on just over the courtyard wall; muskets banging, men shrieking, two Irishmen coming to blows over a white marble statuette smeared with blood, and Billy Russell stamping and damning his luck because he had no rupees on him to buy the treasure which private soldiers were willing to trade away for the price of a bottle of rum.

Flashman in the Great Game, p.264, Pan edition, 4th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes, loot.

Flashman huzoor

‘Continue, Flashman huzoor; share the riches of your spirit with me!’

Flashman, p.208, Pan edition, 12th printing, 1979.

Tags:
Flashman, Flashman quotes.