Notes From a Small Island

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After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson took the decision to move back to the States for a while, to let his kids experience life in another country, to give his wife the chance to shop until 10 p.m. seven nights a week, and, most of all, because he had read the 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another, and it was thus clear to him that his people needed him.nnBut before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire, Bryson insisted on taking one last trip around Britain, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. His aim was to take stock of the nation's public face and private parts (as it were), and to analyse what precisely it was he loved so much about a country that had produced Marmite, a military hero whose dying wish was to be kissed by a fellow named Hardy, place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey and Shellow Bowells, people who said 'Mustn't grumble', and Gardeners' Question Time.nnSo in Notes from a Small Island, Bryson turns a laconic but affectionate eye on his adopted country. Britain will never seem the same again.

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Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. He settled in England in 1977, and lived for many years with his English wife and four children in North Yorkshire. He and his family then moved to America for a few years but have now returned to the UK. His the bestselling travel books include The Lost Continent, Neither Here Nor There, A Walk in the Woods and Down Under. He is also the author of the prizewinning A Short History of Nearly Everything, and his most recent book is The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.Table of ContentsNot a book that should be read in public, for fear of emitting loud snorts','Laugh-out-loud funny','Splendid…What's enjoyable is that there's as much of Bryson in here as there is of Britain','Bryson is funny because he is not afraid to give completely of himself'