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Making History

by Stephen Fry

Making History Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In Stephen Fry's most seriously ambitious novel to date, he creates a futuristic fantasy that becomes a thriller with a funny streak. Tackling one of history's darkest episodes, he poses the question: What if Hitler had never been born? An unquestionable improvement, no doubt.

Michael Young, an earnest young history graduate student, has just finished his dissertation, an exploration into the roots of evil and the early life of Adolf Hitler. When he meets up with an aging German physicist, they concoct an idealistic experiment that involves time travel to prevent the conception of the Führer. It will change the course of history, but will it create a better world? With characteristic brilliance and wit, Fry presents a thought-provoking alternate history that is black comedy at its best. Both trenchant and deeply affecting, this is his most controversial and profound work to date.

Review:

"Availing himself of that durable literary device, time travel, Fry entangles Michael Young, history student at Cambridge University, in a scheme to prevent the birth of Adolf Hitler....[Y]es, this is a funny novel, albeit an uneasily amusing one....A simultaneously zany and serious yarn spinner, Fry creates here a bizarre but skillfully controlled alternative world, with the virtuoso pacing and tension that attract readers." Booklist

Review:

"[A] bright, engaging, learned novel...terrific." The Washington Post

Review:

"Witty and eccentric...the ever astute actor/author asks the question: Does man make history or does history create the man? and answers with a jolt of surprising insight." Elle

Review:

"Making History tears along like a cinematic thriller, building suspense with each fresh scene." Baltimore Sun

Review:

"In this clever, thought-provoking, and very funny novel, Fry ably and convincingly imagines a world that never knew Hitler. This intelligent and gripping tale is even better than Fry's witty The Liar, and should appeal to a wider audience." Library Journal

Review:

"[Making History] reads like a Twilight Zone episode infused with BBC humor....Normally too clever by three-quarters, Fry here is only too clever by half." Allen Lincoln, The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Part academic send-up, part zany screenplay, and part intriguing invented history...a novel that makes you think while laughing and laugh while thinking." Bookpage

Review:

"[O]stensibly about the course of history and human freedom. But the book's plot has all the logic of a musical comedy." David Neff, Books & Culture: A Christian Review

Review:

"His best novel yet...an extravagant, deeply questioning work of science fiction." GQ (UK)

Review:

"Exuberant...his characterization of Michael...is both brilliant and convincing." Minneapolis Star Tribune

About the Author

Stephen Fry has played Peter in the film Peter's Friends, Jeeves in the television series Jeeves & Wooster, Fry in the television series A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and most recently Oscar Wilde in the film Wilde, earning a Golden Globe nomination. Breaking precedent, he appears uneponymously in the film A Civil Action.

Making History is Fry's third novel, following The Liar and The Hippopotamus. He has also written a memoir, Moab Is My Washpot. The author divides his time between New York and his English homes in London and Norfolk.

Product Details

ISBN:
9781569471500
Author:
Fry, Stephen
Publisher:
Soho Press
Location:
New York, NY
Subject:
General
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Humorous
Subject:
Science fiction
Subject:
Adventure stories
Subject:
Science Fiction - Alternative History
Subject:
Time travel
Subject:
Hitler, Adolf
Subject:
Time travel -- Fiction.
Subject:
History students -- England -- Cambridge -- Fiction.
Subject:
Alternative histories
Subject:
History students
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Adventure fiction
Subject:
Alternative histories (Fiction)
Copyright:
Edition Description:
1st North American trade paperback ed.
Publication Date:
May 1999
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
400
Dimensions:
8.00 x 5.00 in

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