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Making History (Paperback)

by Stephen Fry (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Library Journal

Michael Young, a Cambridge graduate student who has just completed his dissertation on Adolf Hitler's childhood, and German physicist Leo Zuckermann, inventor of a machine that can look into the past, come up with a way to prevent Hitler from ever having been born. Apparently unfamiliar with the Awful Warnings of the time travel genre, Michael and Leo don't hesitate to change history, and the results of their successful experience certainly make a difference. 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 (LJ 4/15/93) and should appeal to a wider audience. Highly recommended.
-?Elizabeth Mellett, Brookline P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal

YA-A time-travel tale, of sorts, this novel by a British comedian is alternately funny and thought-provoking. The protagonist, Michael Young, is a trendy, somewhat vapid graduate student at Cambridge who is just finishing his dissertation on the early years of Hitler. Fry alternates chapters describing Michael's actions with sections of his dissertation, allowing a glimpse into the environment that spawned the rise of the Fuhrer. Upon Michael's meeting with physics professor Leo Zuckermann, the nefarious plot thickens. What if Hitler had never been born? What would a world without the Holocaust be like? The two men send male-sterility pills back in time to the water supply used by Hitler's parents. Instantly, Michael finds himself, British accent and all, as an American student at Princeton in an entirely different world. Is it a better world? The novel is full of surprises, with the outcome not even remotely as pristine as Michael had hoped. This is a strange book, full of dry British humor and quips. It also deals with the Nazi "final solution," a topic at the far extreme from laughable. It takes readers into a world of ironic possibilities fraught with disaster, resulting from the best of intentions. YAs will find this an easy read that will stretch their imaginations, entertain them, and leave them thinking about the possible outcomes of the "road not taken."-Carol DeAngelo, Garcia Consulting Inc., EPA Headquarters, Washington, DC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews

57 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (57 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars An Intriguing Answer to An Intriguing Question, Aug 3 2009
By T. M. Stamler "Wannabe Anonymous" (Stonewall, MB Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Since there have already been so many reviews for this book, and some pretty good reviews I must admit, I will keep mine short.

I enjoyed this book, the whole concept (and the larger print) allowed me to shoot through all 555 pages in just three days, which considering I'm usually a very slow reader, is pretty good.

Shortly before I heard of this book, I was wondering to myself what would have happened if Hitler hadn't been around in the 1930s and 40s, would WW2 have happened the same way it did here in our world? Would it even have qualified as a World War at all? Or would the tension and depression of Germany brought on by the Versailles Treaty have brought in another person to fill the void? And would that person have been as bad as Hitler, or better, or even worse?

Those questions in mind, it was nice to get a well done and researched answer by Mr Fry, who proves that things never do work out quite the way you think they will, especially if time travel is involved. I do agree with a reviewer below, however, who found it to be a disappointment that the first part of the novel takes place in England while the second takes place in America so we don't see the full effects of the change in a Europe now controlled by the Nazis in 1996, we just hear about it. It was a shame.

But still, it was a very well thought out story based on an interesting idea that puts a new spin on WW2 What Ifs. Since Axis victory stories are without a doubt the most popular in Alternate History (to the point of being greatly overused), it was nice to see a different approach to the whole thing.
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4.0 out of 5 stars A funny, crazy, and irreverant view on history!, Sep 15 2007
By Ian Gordon Malcomson (Smithers, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Making History (Paperback)
The point of trying to understanding Fry's novel, "Making History", is that there is no point. It is just another one of his nonsensical satires on how we choose to see life through the time-honored prism of history. The 'what if approach" to history, as an alternative form of understanding where we've come from, leads to some very bizarre and funny outcomes in the story. While going back in time in a spaceship to relive the past is old hat, doing it as a joint venture of a mad scientist/inventor and an idealistic young historian trying to expunge the existence of Hitler is really taking off. Once out there, Fry, in truly untrammeled fashion, starts treating his readers to a bevy of ironies and oddities that perhaps underline the idea that life, whichever way one chooses to live it, either forward or backward, is hardly predictable under the best of circumstances. Once you understand Fry's modus operandi, his loose writing style and fast pace narrative style become easy to take. There is no sense wasting your time trying to understand why Fry does what he does. Simply read to have some fun.
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4.0 out of 5 stars It has it's weak points, but overall a very good read, Feb 8 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Making History (Paperback)
Whenever the words "time machine" end up in a book there's always this little voice in my head screaming "DANGER! Lay down the book and step away from it" but in this case Stephen Fry seems to get away with it. Not so much because of the plot, which is rather thin and contains too many 'mistakes', but because of his amazing style of writing (quick, funny, detailed).

In the book Michael Young, a history student specialised on Hitler's youth, and scientist Leo Zuckermann, highly interested in WW II since his father was a Nazi 'doctor', decide to create a time machine (how else can you survive boring sunday afternoons?) so they can stop Hitler from being born. Not a bad start for a book and a pretty interesting idea to work with (how would you stop Hitler from being born, Kennedy from being shot, planes from crashing into trade towers and what would happen if you would?). They succeed but since history has been changed their own lives change too and they both end up in Princeton, USA where Michael knows about his 'former' life (the first chapters of the second part with Michael walking around without having the faintest idea what's going on are dead funny) but Leo doesn't (god knows why).

Even worst Hitler has been replaced by another dictator, Rudolf Gloder, who succeeds where Hitler has failed and conquered Europe and pretty much killed all Jews. Therefore Michael, Steve, a friend of the American Michael, and Leo create ANOTHER time machine to redo what they've done and they all end up back in Cambridge (where both Michael and Steve CAN remember what happened and Leo can't, again god knows why).

The mistakes made, besides the fact that the effect on memory seems to change per person there's also the time schedule when they return in Cambridge (Michael and Leo meet some time before Michaels girlfriend leaves for Princeton herself, when they all return Michael and Leo HAVEN`T met but his girlfriend is already living in the USA), are irritating but don't spoil the entire book. The American Michael, and therefore the English Michael, being gay seems a bit odd and Fry doesn't give any extra info on that part. But besides all that this book is a very good read!

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Making a Pig's Ear
As an enthusiastic reader of alternative history fiction, I have found that certain themes seem to appeal to writers more than others. Read more
Published on Dec 25 2002 by J C E Hitchcock

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent read for a transtlantic flight, or the beach
A tall tale, cheerfully spun out, of a couple of Cambridge (UK) academics who use a time machine to improve world history by deleting Hitler, only to make things worse than ever... Read more
Published on Aug 29 2002 by David R. Downes

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read
This novel is well-written in the finest tradition of British humor. The classic premise that when we change things we sometimes make them worse is the basis for the novel, and it... Read more
Published on Jun 3 2002 by Amerigo Vespucci

5.0 out of 5 stars Get the Spelling Right, Dear Americans
I believe it was the American edition of the book that I was forced to read--for it was luck in itself that I got my hands on anything by Stephen Fry in this god-forsaken corner... Read more
Published on April 15 2002 by M. Masulis

4.0 out of 5 stars Full of Stephenesque humour
Making History is another classic Stephen Fry novel - an original plot, knee-trembling humour and a protagonist who so resembles Fry, you could be forgiven for thinking it was... Read more
Published on Oct 1 2001 by F. G. Hamer

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining consideration of will and fate
I have to confess that time travel has been a subject that has long made me nervous--too many hackneyed plots have been constructed around the consequences of messing around with... Read more
Published on Sep 10 2001 by Wiley Hodges

5.0 out of 5 stars A tremendous what....if... book
Stephen Fry explores the classical question "What would have happened to the world if Hitler would not have been born? Read more
Published on Aug 10 2001 by Linda Oskam

4.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative, sometimes comic
Michael is a young doctoral student in England whose thesis centers on the early life of Adolf Hitler. Read more
Published on Aug 5 2001 by blissengine

5.0 out of 5 stars "Innocence is the Sweet Younger Brother of Stupidity."
It is rare to find a book that is this lighthearted and fun, yet profound enough to make me shed real tears. Which is better, pain or oblivion? Read more
Published on Jun 24 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Water, water, everywhere!
Stephen Fry has produced a novel that not only causes laught but also intrigues the mind. Ever thought 'what if the German's had won?'well, Fry considers this situation. Read more
Published on May 3 2001 by Chris Fitzpatrick

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