In Book 4 of The Speedicut Memoirs, Charles Speedicut finds his fortunes (and misfortunes) tied up with those of the future King Edward VIII, Mr & Mrs Ernest Simpson and Adolf Hitler. In the course of his narrative, Speedicut relates how he was responsible for the murderous Night of the Long Knives, when Hitler ruthlessly purged the Sturmabteilung. He also provides previously unpublished details of his intimate involvement in the events leading to the Abdication, his activities to subvert the British Government’s policy of ‘appeasement’, his part in the Duke & Duchess of Windsor’s infamous tour of Germany in 1937 and his disruptive (and usually secret) role in many other events of the period. “The history of the twentieth century might have been very different – possibly better but probably worse – without the activities of Major Charles Speedicut.” Sir Winston Churchill “I bitterly regret the day that Wallis met that shit, Speedicut.” Ernest Simpson

Book 2 of The Speedicut Memoirs picks up Charles Speedicut’s story from the point in 1918 at which he is about to leave for the Crimea to rescue the Dowager Empress of Russia, a mission which he foresees will be the most dangerous of his life to date. But Fate intervenes and sends him back to the Middle East, where he has a hand in the end of the war in Syria, followed by a series of adventures rescuing members of deposed European royal families that ends, with perfect symmetry, in the Valley of the Kings ... “Speedicut, Lawrence and the Turks: the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.” Field Marshal Viscount Allenby “I am deeply indebted to Charles Speedicut for giving me the idea for Ninotchka.” Ernst Lubitsch “I should have killed Speedicut when I had the chance.” Marguerite, Princess Ali Fahmy

Following the death of Colonel Sir Jasper Speedicut in 1915, the Speedicut saga continues with the publication of the memoirs of his son, Charles.It is clear from his hair-raising exploits in pre- and post-revolutionary Russia and in the sands of Arabia, interspersed with adventures in a whole range of other people’s bedrooms, that Charles Speedicut inherited not just his name from his father...

As the subtitle implies, Book 5 of The Speedicut Papers is largely concerned with Speedicuts unsought role as a part-time courtier to Prince Albert Edward, The Prince of Wales, whilst at the same time he tries to track down the traitor in the British establishment. Along the way he witnesses the battle of Isandlwana, is present at Rorkes Drift and is framed for the death of the Prince Imperial.

The Speedicut Papers recounts in very frank detail the life, loves, and adventures of Jasper Speedicutcharmer, sexual libertine, reluctant hero, and friend of the self-styled brigadier general Sir Harry Flashman, VC. Comprising a nine-volume series of linked adventures and anecdotes in memoir format, The Speedicut Papers lifts the lid from a veritable cesspit of Victorian and Edwardian upper-class debauchery that makes Downton Abbey look like a vicarage tea party. It is also a unique account of Speedicuts involvement in some of the greatestand also some long-forgottenevents in the British Empire and beyond during the period of 18211915. In Flashmans Secret, the first volume of the saga, Speedicut throws a searchlight onto some very murky corners of the nineteenth century, including the early careers of the notorious courtesan, Lola Montez, and the demon barber of Fleet Street, Sweeney Todd. New insights are also provided into the formation of the IRA, the first Anglo-Afghan War, and the dubious acquisition by the British crown of the Koh-i-Noor diamond. If this were not enough, Flashmans Secret also reveals Nelsons actual last words and the existence of a sinister and murderous secret society at the heart of the British establishment.

Uncivil Wars opens in 1857 and takes the reader through the horrors of the Indian Mutiny to China and the Second Opium War, during which Speedicut is captured and tortured in the notorious Board of Punishments. Back in England, Speedicut remarries and he and his new wife spend their honeymoon in the United States, where they get caught up in the American Civil War along with Scarlett OHara, Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler, all of whose real characters he ruthlessly exposes

Why did General Gordon remain in Khartoum? What really happened at the Battle of Abu Klea? How and why did King Ludwig II of Bavaria, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary and Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, actually die? Who was Jack the Ripper? And why was Oscar Wilde provoked into suing Lord Queensberry? For the first time, convincing answers to these and many other historical questions are answered in the memoirs of Colonel Jasper Speedicut. Speaking on behalf of the Faversham family, I can assure you that this book is an appalling travesty of the truth! A E W Mason Judging from this memoir, the British Empire was coloured pink on the map for a very good reason. Alfred Kinsey