Flashman

If you haven't heard of Sir Harry Flashman (VC, KCB, KCIE, coward, bully and all around scoundrel), and if you're interested in Victorian era history, you have something to look forward to. George MacDonald Fraser put his antihero through most of the interesting events between 1839 to 1894, including the First Anglo-Afghan War, the charge of the Light Brigade, the American Civil War, the Indian Mutiny--and lesser known events, such as a battle between the White Rajah of Sarawak and the Borneo pirates, or the British expedition against Theodore of Abyssinia. The footnotes are extensive, some of the most outlandish people were real, and many of the unbelievable events actually happened. I just finished Flashman's Lady and am halfway through Flashman in the Great Game.