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 Rudolph of Austro-Hungary and Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence & 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 letters of Colonel Jasper Speedicut to his friend Harry Flashman. "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 these letters, the British Empire was coloured pink on the map for a very good reason." Alfred Kinsey