Michael Crichton Timeline Summary

Timeline is a novel by Michael Crichton. It starts off with a man found wandering in the desert with unexplained injuries miles from civilization. He is taken to a hospital, where questions are raised about his condition and how he got to the desert. The man is identified, and the company he works for , ITC, is informed. ITC hides the truth by picking up his body and destroying it. Over in France, an archeological site is beginning research. This is where the main characters are introduced; Andre Marek, Chris Hughes, Kate Erickson, and Professor Edward Johnston. These four characters have very different personalities, but are all important to the remainder of the story. Andre Marek is an assistant professor at Yale, in the field of history.

Chris Hughes is a graduate student at Yale. He specializes in mills, and takes his work very seriously. Kate Erickson is a history graduate student, also at Yale. She specializes in old architecture. Professor Edward Johnston is a history professor at Yale, and is very well liked by his students. Once the archeologic project is started, the Professor goes to New Mexico to ask ITC some questions when they tell him that they know more about the archeological site than he does. He is gone for a long time, and his students begin to worry. Eventually, they are all called down to New Mexico and are told that the Professor has traveled back in time, and they are to go and retrieve him. With the three students, Andre, Chris, and Kate, another student goes with them named David Stern. Stern is also studying history, and was called down with everyone else to find the Professor. But when he discovers that they have to go back in time, he decides to stay behind at the company and let the others go instead. The three of them, along with two escorts from the company, are transported back to the medieval