The History Man

The History Man is about Howard Kirk - a sociology lecturer at a modern university. The book mainly concentrates on Kirks life and relationships over a single term, but with many references to his past - especially his relationship to his wife. Kirk is a radical sociologist, daring everyone else to be radical, confronting their conformity and lecturing all he meets about challenging their social norms. As the book goes on, he is revealed as a twisted individual who believe his rhetoric only as it applies to others. He manipulates his way through the book, using every tool at his disposal (inclduing sex and politics) to ensure his position remains secure. And in that we see the main irony of the book - the so-called radical rebel desires nothing more than to remain comfortable in the social niche he has created for himself.

Bradburys style is an uncompromising one, with long paragraphs of text that do not help the comprehension of the novel. However, it is very readable and Kirks manipulations draw you through the book. It has the potential to be a very dry topic - but Bradbury's wry and ironic wit pervades the book making it a pleasant read.


A beautifully written campus novel   May 16, 2001
N. L. Esq
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

It is sad that Malcolm Bradbury passed away last year, as it means that there will no longer be any more novels like this. If you know David Lodge's novels and like them, then you will love "The History Man". Somehow Malcolm Bradbury managed to dig a bit deeper into the characters that he wrote about leaving a sense of having known them, whether it be Howard Kirk in this book or Doctor Criminale in his later book of the same name. With both of these books I felt a profound loss when I came to the end - I wanted the book to go on and on.


Superb Portrait of a Monster in Academia.   September 15, 2000
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

A quarter of a century may have passed but Bradbury's work is still a brilliant - if now criminally neglected - portrait of the academic world. Set in a thinly disguised version of the University of East Anglia in Norwich in 1972 the novel depicts the life and activities of the popular but ultimately monstrous Sociology lecturer and Marxist poseur Howard Kirk. At times hilarious in its portrayal of the Kirks' thoroughly modern marriage and in detailing the appallingly tedious minutiae of office meetings the novel is at its most compelling in its portrayal of Kirk's ruthless thwarting of unfortunate and unfashionable Tory boy George Carmody 'the only student in the university with a trouser press' as Kirk cynically pigeonholes him. Although perhaps dated in its depiction of an academic world where talk of "reactionaries" and espousal of Marxism was far more commonplace than it is today, the novel nevertheless remains a powerful lesson as to the dangers of allowing one philosophy to overwhelmingly dominate in any environment (lecturer and student alike crudely dismiss all views not to their liking as "reactionary" or "fascist") and also of the dangers of the potential for abuse of power by individuals in everyday life. An enjoyable academic classic to rank alongside the best of Kingsley Amis or David Lodge.