Using History.back()

I have a form with a "Print" button on the page. When the user clicks this it doesn't actually print but opens a condensed version of the page, passing the field contents with php. On the new (condensed) page I capture the load of the page in js and when it occurs issue the command print(). This works fine.

But once I've done this (printed) I would like to return to my original form. I've tried

if (print()) history.back()

print()
history.back()

neither seems to work. As an experiment I put the following code at the bottom of my condensed page that prints...

<FORM>
<INPUT type="button" value="Click here to go back" onClick="history.back()">
</FORM>

Clicking on the resulting button does exactly what I want... clears the form and returns me to my original.

I just don't what to
a) print the form with that button on it
b) require user input after the printing.

So... can anyone point me in a way of making history.back() work outside of an onClick construct?