Stephen Fry played the very British butler Jeeves in the Wodehouse-adapted Jeeves and Wooster. He also has cameos in a number of movies and shows, including most recently A Civil Action. Making History marks his third foray into fiction, unless you count his autobiography - supposedly not fiction.

Fry brings the humor out of normal situations and puts his characters into situations that are distinctly abnormal. He does so in such an effective literary manner that it brings to mind Evelyn Waugh. The difference is that Fry inserts elements of the modern world that would make the average citizen in Waugh's Britain turn beet-red with embarrassment.

In Making History, Fry introduces Michael Young, a graduate student in history and expert on the life of Hitler. He meets and plots with Leo Zuckerman, a professor, to change history such that Hitler was never born. Not to disclose the entire plot, but the plan succeeds. The problem is that the new world is even worse than the previous one. Thus, the quest becomes making sure that Hitler was indeed born and the world reverts to what was once normal.

This is not an entirely original idea, nor are the moral consequences of time travel new to fiction. Science fiction in particular wrestles with this in numerous texts by scores of authors. The difference is that Fry's description of events is so crisp and funny that it seems entirely novel. There are also certain plot twists that keep things from getting boring.

The bad news comes with an absolute letdown of an ending. The last fifty pages or so seem to have been written in anticipation of a deadline rather than to wrap up the events in the book. Most plot elements are tied up predictably, but with a very unpredictable change by the main character. This change in particular is disturbing. Fry labors for over 300 pages to tell a good story, then throws in a strange moral statement at the end. It leaves the reader thinking he has been guided along a path throughout, only to arrive at a dead-end with a wacky message painted on a signpost.

The work is certainly thought-provoking in parts, especially regarding "what ifs" in history, and the capacity of individuals to commit horrid acts. It is also controversial, which is to be expected from Fry. However, it ultimately fails to take his writing to the next level.
--Jeff Edwards