surrenders. He is taken into Russia (now Ukraine) and placed in the custody of Count Pencherjevsky. Here he reunites with Scud East, his old schoolmate, and meets Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev, a vicious Russian Captain. Flashman and East overhear plans by senior Russian officers to invade India and conquer the British Raj. The two men escape from the Count's estate (thanks to a peasant uprising), but Flashman is recaptured by the Russians. Ignatiev takes Flashman with him across central Asia as part of his plans to conquer India. Flashman is rescued from prison by cohorts of Yakub Beg, led by his Chinese paramour. Then the Tajik and Uzbek warriors attack the Russian fleet using Congreve rockets captured from the Russians, which only Flashman knows how to use. Prior to the battle, Flashman was unknowingly drugged with hashish and is utterly fearless as a result, for the only time in his life. The Russian ships are destroyed and Flashman then travels on to British India. Characters Fictional characters Harry Flashman – The hero or anti-hero. Elspeth – His adoring and possibly unfaithful wife. Prince William of Celle. Count Pencherjevsky – A Cossack Hetman who is now the feudal Russian lord of a large estate. Scud East – Character from Tom Brown's Schooldays, now a junior officer in the British army. Valla – The daughter of Count Pencherjevsky and Flashman's lover. Aunt Sara – Aunt of Valla, who teaches Flashman how to properly enjoy a Russian steam bath. Ko Dali's daughter – (Perhaps historical) A Chinese woman and Yakub Beg's lover. She seduces Flashman and doses him with hashish in order to make him effective in the coming battle. Historical characters Prince Albert, Consort of Queen Victoria. Lord Raglan - Commander of the British troops in the Crimea and the man held by Flashman to be responsible for the Charge of the Light Brigade. Flashman says, "He should have been a parson, or an Oxford don, or a waiter, for he was the kindliest, soft-voiced old stick who ever spared a fellow-creature's feelings - and that was what was wrong with him..." Lord Cardigan - The man in command of the Light Cavalry Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava, whom Flashman catches in the bedroom with Elspeth, and for whom Flashman has a long-standing antipathy. Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev - The main villain of the book, a ruthless and brutal Russian diplomat who takes