Bill Bryson

At Home: Special Illustrated Edition – A Short History Of Private Life

Large Pre-loved Hardcover

From one of the most beloved authors of our time – more than six million copies of his books have been sold in this country alone – a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home.

“Houses aren’t refuges from history. They are where history ends up.”

Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.” The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade; and so on, as Bryson shows how each has fig­ured in the evolution of private life. Whatever happens in the world, he demonstrates, ends up in our house, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture.

Bill Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet, and he is a master at turning the seemingly isolated or mundane fact into an occasion for the most diverting exposi­tion imaginable. His wit and sheer prose fluency make At Home one of the most entertaining books ever written about private life.

Book type:  Large Pre-loves Hardcover. First US Edition.

Condition: Excellent.
Cover image: For illustration purposes only. Some details may differ.
Notes: This book is in excellent condition overall. The dust jacket shows some signs of wear. The book itself is almost pristine. It should arrive in great condition.

$27.99

Out of stock

More Information & Critical Reviews

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. Settled in England for many years, he moved to America with his wife and four children for a few years ,but has since returned to live in the UK. His bestselling travel books include The Lost Continent, Notes From A Small Island, A Walk In The Woods and Down Under. His acclaimed work of popular science, A Short History Of Nearly Everything, won the Aventis Prize and the Descartes Prize, and was the biggest selling non-fiction book of the decade in the UK. He was chancellor of Durham University, England’s third oldest university, from 2005 to 2011, and is an honorary fellow of Britain’s Royal Society.

“.…a delightful stroll through the history of domestic life. Now living in a 19th-century church rectory in Norfolk, England, the author decided to learn about the ordinary things of life by exploring each room in his house…. In a sense, Bryson’s book is a history of “getting comfortable slowly”…. Informative, readable and great fun.” Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“[D]elightful…. Considering our homes means a dash through history, politics, science, sex, and dozens of other fields. If this book doesn’t supply you with five years’ worth of dinner conversation, you’re not paying attention.” PEOPLE magazine

“Fascinating…. Join this ambiable tour guide as he wanders through his house, a former rectory built in 1851 in a tranquil English village…. [It] takes a very particular kind of thoughtfulness, as well as a bold temperament, to stuff all this research into a mattress that’s supportive enough to loll about on while pondering the real subject of this book — the development of the modern world…. Bryson is fascinated by everything, and his curiosity is infectious…[his] enthusiasm brightens any dull corner…. You’ll be given a delightful smattering of information about everything but…the kitchen sink.” Dominique Browning, The New York Times Book Review

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Large Pre-loved Hardcover

Book Author

Bill Bryson

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