[Making History], first published in 1996, is a book written by [Stephen Fry] (www.stephenfry.com), and is essentially a long and thorough answer to the question [If you could go back in time and kill Hitler, would you?].

The book is a piece of [fiction] writing, 600-odd pages long, and is an unusual novel indeed. It interweaves a set of stories: A young history student's [doctoral thesis], a historical account from the trenches of the [first world war], and the main story-line, set partially in [New Jersey], and partially in [Cambridge], England.

In Making History, [Stephen Fry|Fry] explores the implications of time travel in a surprisingly non-science-fiction type way: Whereas most time-travel stories require a significant amount of [suspension of disbelief|suspending disbelief], Making History is a far simpler story.

Making History is the account of Michael Young, the above-mentioned history student, who meets up with a physics professor who bears a white-hot hatred for everything related to the Nazi party. Throughout the story, it becomes clear that the professor's father was in [Auschwitz] - his greatest wish is to rewrite history, to make sure that [Adolf Hitler] is never born. Young - who slowly grows to realise that a historian may come in quite handy when attempting to re-write history - joins the team, and together they modify a machine (invented by the professor, designed to be able to observe the past), into a time machine.

The story flows easily, occasionally (disobedient to the normal format of novels of this type) in [film-script] format, more frequently in the more familiar [third person] narrative. For people who are familiar with [Stephen Fry|Fry]'s other work - in particular his somewhat heteroclite sense of humour - the book will carry no great surprises.

Making History is well-written, with a few [Ian Banks]-esque twists in the plot, captivating [dialogue], some stimulating thoughts on [time travel]. There are many better books in circulation, and while this one has its moments, it wouldn't be at the top of my recommendations list. It is, however, worth picking up for a few giggles and to kill a few hours on a long flight, or curled up trying to will a cold winter day to pass by.

Making History (idea)