Quirky and Entertaining snipets of British History

I enjoy most of Bill Bryson's books and this is one of his best. Bryson is an American anglophile who has managed to distil an archetypal British perspective of life into his prose, whilst retaining an outsiders joy in discovering the stories behind many aspects of Britain (that most British simply take for granted). His eloquent, sometimes quaint, use of understated yet colourful language is a delight. In this book, he uses the various rooms of his old house as a device to follow historic threads that interest him. Often, he unearths the antecedents of common terms, or items, or features of the landscape or architecture and sets them into their original context, which is something that anyone could do; but where Bryson excels is in giving his own commentary about why they are so interesting to him. He has a gift of making things interesting and in this case it generally reflects very well on Britain and its history. If you want to hear a miscellany of entertainingly recounted snippets of British history told with subjective verve from someone who loves Britain then buy this book.

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25 people found this helpful

House Full of Surprises

I had started to read the hardcopy and whilst loving it figured that at my rate of about two-pages per-day before bedtime it would take me too long so I was happy to start again with the audiobook and am delighted I did.



Bryson's 'history' reminded me of the 'the joke' that Ronnie Barker used to tell on 'The Two Ronnies' when every week, seated in an easy-chair and clad in an argyle-patterned jumper, he would commence a long rambling anecdote that gave you no idea of where it was going until you finally arrived at the 'punch line' but was nevertheless thoroughly entertaining all the way through. I loved this book and although presumably not intended to be funny, neither was it unduly serious, with Bryson's wonderful dry wit and sense of the ridiculous never far away. And what a rich and colorful cast of characters he introduced us to. Thank you, Bill,



My only 'complaint', and one I see already commented upon by many of your listeners, was that I felt Bryson was not the ideal Narrator. It was interesting but at one point it sounded as though the Narrator changed, but it might also have been that Bill started to become a little-less uncomfortable with his work. Certainly for the first half his tone reminded me of when I used to practice public speaking and play back my words on a tinny reel-to-reel tape recorder, sounding for all the world about as exciting as Platform Announcer advising of yet another delay on the 3:58 from Luton because of leaves on the line.

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2 people found this helpful

A history of things you always wondered about...

Mr Bryson has done it again! A thoughly enjoyable listen.
Read by the man himself with his subtly anglicized American accent.
A thought provoking romp through history with just a touch of wit and plenty of wisdom!
Very entertaining to anyone who has an interest in the history of the more everyday things in life. Only one critisism - I do wish Americans could pronounce words correctly!

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Good Listen

Not my normal sort of book, but like the other Bill Bryson books I've listened to, well worth the time.

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A bit gruesome in a lot of chapters

This is a fabulous book. not quite as fascinating as 'A brief history of everything' but written in the same style. It covers the history of domesticity.

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Fascinating book

I have learnt so much from this book. It's witty and amusing, incredibly diverse in what it covers. Well worth a read.

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Good read

Another excellent book by Bill Bryson and well narrated by the author himself. The book is a fascinating insight into the history rooms found in a typical English home and the objects found within them.

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Marvellous

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Go out and buy it. I followed up with the illustrated hardback.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Using an old house as a window on history was an inspired idea.

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Fascinating insights by the erudite Bryson

A delight to listen to. Both entertaining and wonderfully educational. Bonus is that it is read by the author.

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Like taking a fun degree in everything

This is no irresistible page-turner, but it's still an impressive book. How one person could, in a lifetime, read enough, travel enough, research enough and know enough to write a book like this is quite amazing. But of course Bryson churns them out regularly. Every single page of this book has numerous amazing facts that made me want to take notes, or rush out to tell someone, or flip back and read again. Half way through the book I switched to the Audiobook version, read by the author, and it was just as enjoyable. Walking home from work with Bryson in my ears was very enjoyable, and hugely educational. Infections, fashion, architecture, childhood, poverty, invention, evolution - it's all here, in effortless flow, and using the rooms of a house as the framework.

Onto the next Bryson book!

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