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Selected by Sarah Broadhurst
October 2012 Guest Editor Simon Garfield on At Home...
Another American male, I’m afraid, but a prime example of how popular non-fiction doesn’t have to dumb down to appeal. And it’s a sort of map book, an intriguing journey room-by-room through Bryson’s Victorian rectory in Norfolk, from the passage to the study to the garden, with heaps of fascinating social history folded in at each step. The note to self when reading this (and indeed most of Bryson) is: research more, write more clearly.
Sarah Broadhurst's view...
Bill Bryson turns is eyes inwards to look at the everyday things that add up to make the real history of the world. As he ventures around his house he discovers a multitude of things some fascinating, some disconcerting and all talked about in the style we have come to love and cherish from Mr Bryson.
Shortlisted for the Galaxy Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2010.
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 29 May 2010.
If you like Bill Bryson you might also like to read books by Stephen Clarke.
Who is Sarah BroadhurstWin 1 set of all 6 Wolfson Shortlisted Books
Awarded by the Wolfson Foundation each year since 1972, the Wolfson History Prize has become synonymous with celebrating outstanding history. Now in its 46th year, it remains Britain’s foremost history prize, promoting standards of excellence in scholarly history for a general audience.
The set of all 6 shortlisted books are up for grabs for one lucky winner.
The Wolfson History Prize 2018 Shorlisted books have recently been announced.
This set includes:
Out of China by Robert Bickers
The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris
A Deadly Legacy by Dr. Tim Grady
Black Tudors by Mirana Kaufmann
Heretics and Believers by Peter Marshall
Heligoland by Jan Ruger
To have a chance of winning this fantastic prize, click the button below. Please note that this draw is open only for UK residents and is free to enter, multiple entries from the same email address will only be counted once.
The draw closes on 05 June 2018. The winner will be notified by 18 June 2018,
Good luck!
Synopsis
At Home : A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
What does history really consists of? Centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - sleeping, eating, having sex, endeavouring to get comfortable. And where did all these normal activities take place? At home. This was the thought that inspired Bill Bryson to start a journey around the rooms of his own house, an 1851 Norfolk rectory, to consider how the ordinary things in life came to be. And what he discovered are surprising connections to anything from the Crystal Palace to the Eiffel Tower, from scurvy to body-snatching, from bedbugs to the Industrial Revolution, and just about everything else that has ever happened, resulting in one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live.
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Book Info
Publication date
26th May 2011Author
Bill BrysonMore books by Bill Bryson
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Author's Website
www.billbryson.co.uk/Author's Facebook Latest
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Publisher
Black Swan an imprint of Transworld Publishers LtdFormat
Paperback
Categories
Biography / AutobiographyHistoryThe Real World
ISBN
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