Tricked into making what he perceives as easy money on an opium run, Flashman finds himself in the thick of the Taiping Rebellion. Once again Fraser takes a major event in history and plants his anti-hero right in the midst of it. A fascinating account of the development of the rebellion and its eventual defeat is the core of this book and Fraser does a great job of explaining the events and the principles making this a particularly satisfying Flashman adventure. The cast of characters are true eccentrics in many cases and make for humorous and exciting reading. This is one of the stronger Flashman novels I have read and maintains a nice balance of history and adventure.