History Creator / GeorgeMacDonaldFraser

** Fraser admitted that even fifty years after the war, he still had misgivings about Japanese people because of his formative experiences during the war. At the same time, he states that upon watching old Japanese soldiers who survived the war being interviewed on TV, he also gets the sense that they're NotSoDifferent. All in all, he's not a blind bigot, and is willing to let old enmities lie despite his gut reactions.

George [=MacDonald=] Fraser (1925 - 2008) was a British writer, and screenwriter, known for his HistoricalFiction and his historical non-fiction.

George [=MacDonald=] Fraser (1925 - 2008) was a British writer known for his humorous historical fiction. Best known for the ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'' series, he also wrote the ''Literature/McAuslan'' series (inspired by his military service in the 1940s, which also resulted in the non-fiction memoir ''Quartered Safe Out Here''), several stand-alone novels, and a history of the English-Scottish Border Reivers.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: GMF was simply not a progressive sort on this front. His later memoirs - ''Quartered Safe Out Here'' and ''Light's On At Signpost'' especially - are increasingly full of snark directed at political correctness. He is no knee-jerk, though. While he threatens throughout ''Quartered Safe Out Here'' to deliver a fiery politically incorrect opinion on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when he gets down to cases he notes with approval that the V-J Day 50th anniversary celebrations were mercifully free of moralizing on the subject. He also posits a hypothetical scenario in which he and his squadmates in Burma are presented with the full ramifications of the bombings and given the choice to drop the bombs or continue their ground war. Fraser theorizes that his comrades would grouse and moan at extreme length - and then prepare to march on up the road rather than see the bombs dropped.

-->-- '''The Hollywood History of the World'''.

* KukrisAreKool: Fraser carried one through the Burma campaign. He said he preferred it to a machete.

* PinPullingTeeth: In his WW2 memoir ''Quartered Safe Out Here'', Fraser notes the dilemma of safety versus being able to pull the pins quickly. Fraser also notes that if a certain British actor (Victor [=MacLaglen=]) known for doing this trope in his movies had done so during his own army service, he would have left his incisors in Mesopotamia.

** Fraser admits that even fifty years after the war, he still has misgivings about Japanese people because of his formative experiences during the war. At the same time, he states that upon watching old Japanese soldiers who survived the war being interviewed on TV, he also gets the sense that they're NotSoDifferent. All in all, he's not a blind bigot, and is willing to let old enmities lie despite his gut reactions.

* MoneyDearBoy: In his memoirs, Fraser describes receiving a temporary promotion as editor of his newspaper, only to be demoted when a more senior journalist took his job. Fraser could no longer support his family on a reporter's salary, and told his wife "I'm going to write our way out of this!" ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'' was the result.

* PlayingAgainstType: ''The Candlemass Road'' and ''Mr. American'' are straightforward historical novels with few of Fraser's usual humorous touches (though the latter does feature an antiquated Harry Flashman as a supporting player).

* BloodKnight: The author met one of these in World War II. He was sent to an outpost to carry a rocket launcher that the commander had ordered from headquarters, to blow up escaping enemy river barges. This commander was an eccentric sapper with a ragtag band of local mercenaries, and he absolutely ''loved'' killing Japanese.

* FunetikAksent: Fraser has a knack for portraying the varied accents and dialects he'd been in contact with and skillfully differentiating them using this trope. For instance, in ''Quartered Safe Out Here'', he does quite well depicting both the cockney of the OldSoldier in his section and the Cumbrian dialect spoken by almost all the other squad members. Likewise, in ''Literature/McAuslan'', he separates the Glaswegian spoken by most of his unit and the Highland accents of the pipe-sergeant and the padre. The only characters to avert this seem to be people who've had the benefit of a rigorous education and therefore speak in RP, such as the Duke (nicknamed so because of his posh speech mannerisms) from ''Quartered Safe Out Here'' and, most likely, the author himself and/or his author avatars.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Scottish and English Bordermen in ''Quartered Safe Out Here''; they are actually referred to as "A martial race of men".

* KukrisAreKool: Fraser carried one through the Burma campaign. He said he preferred it to a machete.

** As are most of the [[KiplingsFinest Indian Army]] troops mentioned in the Flashman series.

* PlayingAgainstType: ''The Candlemass Road'' and ''Mr. American'' are straightforward historical novels with few of Fraser's usual satirical touches (though the latter does feature an antiquated Harry Flashman as a supporting player).

* SwitchingPOV: ''Black Ajax'' is a faux-oral history of Tom Molineaux's boxing career, with each chapter narrated by a different character.

-->-- ''The Hollywood History of the World''.

* HollywoodHistory: Wrote a nonfiction book entitled ''The Hollywood History of the World'' commenting on the accuracy of various historical films. Surprisingly, Fraser generally defends the movies discussed as being accurate in spirit, if not details. One of his statements is now the pagequote for the trope:
-> ''"There is a popular belief that where history is concerned, Hollywood always gets it wrong - and sometimes it does. What is overlooked is the astonishing amount of history Hollywood has got right, and the immense, unacknowledged debt we owe to the commercial cinema as an illuminator of the story of mankind."''

* HollywoodHistory: Wrote a nonfiction book entitled ''The Hollywood History of the World'' commenting on the accuracy of various historical films. Surprisingly, Fraser generally defends the movies discussed as being accurate in spirit, if not details.

* PlayingAgainstType: ''The Candlemass Road'' and ''Mr. American'' are straightforward historical novels with little of Fraser's usual satirical touches (though the latter does feature an antiquated Harry Flashman as a supporting player).

* AuthorAppeal: There comes a time in the career of every British writer when athletics must be portrayed. Fraser has a brilliant talent for making sporting contests appealing to even the most disinterested reader, whether it's cricket, (in ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'') soccer, Highland games, or even golf (all in ''Literature/McAuslan''). Justified as Fraser worked as a sports journalist before becoming an author.

* MoneyDearBoy: In his memoirs, Fraser describes receives a temporary promotion as editor of his newspaper, only to be demoted when a more senior journalist took his job. Fraser could no longer support his family on a reporter's salary, and told his wife "I'm going to write our way out of this!" ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'' was the result.

* ''ThePyrates''

* AuthorAppeal: There comes a time in the career of every British writer when athletics must be portrayed. Fraser has a brilliant talent for making sporting contests appealing to even the most disinterested reader, whether it's cricket, (in ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'') soccer, Highland games, or even golf (all in ''Literature/McAuslan'').

George [=MacDonald=] Fraser (1925 - 2008) was a British writer known for his humorous historical fiction. Best known for the ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'' series, he also wrote the ''Literature/McAuslan'' series (inspired by his military service in the 1940s, which also resulted in the non-fiction memoir ''Quartered Safe Out Here'') and several stand-alone novels.

* AuthorAppeal: There comes a time in the career of every British writer when athletics must be portrayed. Fraser has a brilliant talent for making sporting contests appealing to even the most disinterested reader, whether it's cricket, (in ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'') soccer, Highland games, or even golf (all in ''Literature/McAuslan''). This is in stark contrast to other British authors (c.f. JKRowling, TerryPratchett, DouglasAdams) who somehow always fail to inject excitement into their descriptions of sports.