All knowledge is precious whether or not it serves the slightest human use.
Malcolm Bradbury – The History Man
Precious Knowledge
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The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury is a satirical novel set in a British university town in the 1970s. The protagonist, Howard Kirk, is a Marxist sociology professor who is obsessed with his own image and intellectual superiority. He manipulates and seduces his students and colleagues, and uses his position to advance his own agenda. The novel explores themes of power, ideology, and the clash between traditional values and the counterculture of the 1960s. The narrative is fragmented and non-linear, with multiple perspectives and unreliable narrators. The ending is ambiguous and open to interpretation. Overall, The History Man is a darkly humorous critique of academia and the political climate of its time.