THE GENERAL DANCED AT DAWN

by George MacDonald Fraser ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1972

A roughly affectionate, bantering series of tales about a young officer's W.W.II hot water passage through a Highland Regiment. MacNeill's performance before the Selection Board -- miserable, down to the spectacular finale in the ""muddy ditch"" test which reduced the spectators to hysterics, raised him to officer-hood although the examiners would never know that the great display of below-the-mud persistence had to do with the loss of his pants. There's a Highland dancing session until dawn ordered by a possessed general; a rattling trip on the Cairo-Jerusalem train in 1946; disciplinary tempests involving two incorrigibles -- Wee Wullie MacLennon (six and one-half feet of prehensile strengths and tempers) and The Dirtiest Soldier in the World, McAuslan, who like Sam Small, brings his stubborn grievances to the top; and finally the terrors of mounting guard at Edinburgh Castle in the presence of royalty, when MacNeill's broken kilt buckle necessitated a ballet exit. Something new for oldtimers who enjoyed Flashman as well as Mr. Glencannon.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1972

Categories: FICTION