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Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson's Website

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. A backpacking expedition in 1973 brought him to England where he met his wife and decided to settle. He wrote for the English newspapers The Times and The Independent for many years, writing travel articles to supplement his income. He lived with his family in North Yorkshire before moving back to the States in 1995, to Hanover, New Hampshire, with his wife and four children. In 2003 he and his family moved back to England, where they currently reside.

The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson's hilarious first travel book, chronicles a trip in his mother's Chevy around small town America. Since then, he has written several more, including notable bestsellers, A Walk in the Woods, I'm A Stranger Here Myself, and In a Sunburned Country.

His other books include Bill Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe, Made in America, The Mother Tongue and Bill Bryson's African Diary and A Short History of Nearly Everything.

Available Books by Bill Bryson

	Shakespeare: The World As A Stage [Illustrated Gift Edition] Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780007479634 RRP: $32.99 Bill Bryson's biography of William Shakespeare pairs the most celebrated playwright in history with one of the most popular writers in the English language today. In this exquisitely illustrated edition, the age of Shakespeare is vividly evoked through full-colour paintings, portraits, documents and photographs. Ever since he took the theatre of Elizabethan London by storm over 400 years ago,...
	Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780007302574 RRP: $32.99 Since its inception in 1660, the Royal Society has pioneered scientific discovery and exploration. The oldest scientific academy in existence, its backbone is its Fellowship of the most eminent scientists in history including Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. Today, its Fellows are the most influential men and women in science, many of whom have contributed to this ground-breaking ...
	At Home Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552772556 RRP: $19.95 In At Home, Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose and masterful storytelling that made A Short History of Nearly Everything one of the most lauded books of the last decade, and delivers one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live. Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote a...
	Troublesome Words. 4th Ed Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780141040394 RRP: $24.95 What is the difference between mean and median, blatant and flagrant, flout and flaunt? Is it whodunnit or whodunit? Do you know? Are you sure? With Troublesome Words, journalist and bestselling travel-writer Bill Bryson gives us a clear, concise and entertaining guide to the problems of English usage and spelling that has been an indispensable companion to those who work with the written word fo...
	Mother Tongue: The Story of the English Language Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780141040080 RRP: $24.95 'More than 300 million people in the world speak English and the rest, it sometimes seems, try to...' Only Bill Bryson could make a book about the English language so entertaining. With his boundless enthusiasm and restless eye for the absurd, this is his astonishing tour of English. From its mongrel origins to its status as the world's most-spoken tongue; its apparent simplicity to i...
	Popular Penguins: Mother Tongue Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780141037462 RRP: $9.95 Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue is a hymn to the English language. In examining how a second-rate, mongrel tongue came to be the undisputed language of the globe. Bryson explores English from America to Australia and looks at, among other things, swearing, spelling, spoonerisms and Scrabble. No self-respecting English speaker should open his mouth without reading it....
	Shakespeare Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780007197903 RRP: $18.99 Shakespeare's life, despite the scrutiny of generations of biographers and scholars, is still a thicket of myths and traditions, some preposterous, some conflicting, arranged around the few scant facts known about the Bard from his birth in Stratford to the bequest of his second best bed to his wife when he died. Following his international bestsellers 'A Short History of Nearly Everyt...
	Shakespeare Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780007197897 RRP: $29.99 This short biography of William Shakespeare by world famous travel writer Bill Bryson, brims with the author's inimitable wit and intelligence. In true Bryson style, in a study that manages to be witty, amusing and anecdotal as well as informative, on one of the greatest British dramatists that has ever lived, he recounts his travels during which h discusses Shakespeare and his lie with exper...
	Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552772549 RRP: $19.95 Some say that the first hint that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came when his mother sent him to school in lime-green Capri pants. Others think it all started with his discovery, at the age of six, of a woollen jersey of rare fineness. Across the moth-holed chest was a golden thunderbolt. It may have looked like an old college football sweater, but young Bryson knew better. It was obviously ...
	A Short History Of Nearly Everything Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552997041 RRP: $29.95 Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely in his own study at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. This book is his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilisation - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. Bill Bryson's challenge is to take subjects...
	The Lost Continent Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552998086 RRP: $19.95 'I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.' And, as soon as Bill Bryson was old enough, he left. Des Moines couldn't hold him, but it did lure him back. After ten years in England he returned to the land of his youth, and drove almost 14,000 miles in search of a mythical small town called Amalgam, the kind of smiling village where the films of his youth were set. Instead he drove t...
	Notes From A Big Country Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552997867 RRP: $19.95 Bill Bryson has the rare knack of being out of his depth wherever he goes - even (perhaps especially) in the land of his birth. This became all too apparent when, after nearly two decades in England, the world's best-loved travel writer upped sticks with Mrs Bryson, little Jimmy et al and returned to live in the country he had left as a youth. Of course there were things Bryson missed about ...
	A Walk In The Woods Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552997027 RRP: $19.95 The longest continuous footpath in the world, the Appalachian Trail stretches along the East Coast of the United States, from Georgia to Maine, through some of the most arresting and celebrated landscapes in America. At the age of forty-four, in the company of his friend Stephen Katz, Bill Bryson set off to hike through the vast tangled woods which have been frightening sensible people for three ...
	Made In America Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552998055 RRP: $19.95 Bill Bryson turns away from the highways and byways of middle America, so hilariously depicted in his bestselling 'The Lost Continent' for a fast, exhilarating ride along the Route 66 of American language and popular culture. In 'Made in America,' Bryson de-mythologizes his native land - explaining how a dusty desert hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wi...
	Neither Here Nor There Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552998062 RRP: $19.95 In 'Neither Here nor There' Bill Bryson brings his unique brand of humour to bear on Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. Fluent in, oh, at least one language, he retraces his travels as a student twenty years before. Whether braving the homicidal motori...
	Notes From A Small Island Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552996006 RRP: $19.95 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 pm seven nights a week, and, most of all, because he had read that 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 hi...

	Seeing Further Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780061999772 RRP: $24.95 Incorporating original contributions from a range of leading writers, a tour of modern science's great discoveries, feuds and personalities traces the story of the international Royal Society from 1660 to the present and is sumptuously illustrated by archival photographs and records. Reprint. 25,000 first printing....
	At Home Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780767919395 RRP: $20.95 The award-winning author of A Short History of Nearly Everything explores the ways in which homes reflect history, from a bathroom's revelations about medicine and hygiene to a kitchen's exposure of the stories of trade and nutrition. Reprint. A best-selling book....
	Seeing Further Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780061999765 RRP: $45.95 Traces the history of the Royal Society from its founding in 1660 to the present and describes how its members--including Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Humphry Davy, Albert Einstein, Alexander Fleming, and Stephen Hawking--have contributed to global scientific discovery....
	At Home Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780375434310 RRP: $37.95 The award-winning author of A Short History of Nearly Everything explores the ways in which homes reflect history, from a bathroom's revelations about medicine and hygiene to a kitchen's exposure of the stories of trade and nutrition. (House & home). Simultaneous....
	A Short History of Nearly Everything Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780307885159 RRP: $36.95 The author traces the Big Bang through the rise of civilization, documenting his work with a host of the world's most advanced scientists and mathematicians to explain why things are the way they are....
	At Home Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780767919388 RRP: $37.95 The award-winning author of A Short History of Nearly Everything explores the ways in which homes reflect history, from a bathroom's revelations about medicine and hygiene to a kitchen's exposure of the stories of trade and nutrition. 600,000 first printing....
	Shakespeare Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780061965326 RRP: $38.95 An illustrated, updated edition of the author's best-selling biography of William Shakespeare takes the reader on an enthralling tour through Elizabethan England and the eccentricities of Shakespearean scholarship, in a book with more than 100 color and black-and-white illustrations. 25,000 first printing....
	A Really Short History of Nearly Everything Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780385738101 RRP: $25.95 Tackling everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, the author makes the why, how, and who of scientific discovery accessible for young readers....
	Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780767922708 RRP: $21.95 ...
	Shakespeare Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780060740221 RRP: $25.95 A portrait of the bard is presented in the style of a travelogue based on interviews with actors, the curator of Shakespeare's Birthplace, and academics, in an account that also shares the author's whimsical recollections of his own adventures in Stratford-upon-Avon. 60,000 first printing....
	The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780767919371 RRP: $20.95 The best-selling author of A Walk in the Woods and I'm a Stranger Here Myself describes his all-American childhood growing up as a member of the baby boom generation in the heart of Iowa, detailing his rich fantasy life as a superhero known as the Thunderbolt Kid and his remarkably normal 1950s family life. Reprint. 250,000 first printing....
	A Walk in the Woods Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780307279460 RRP: $10.95 Traces the author's adventurous trek along the Appalachian Trail past its natural pleasures, human eccentrics, and offbeat comforts....
	The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780767919364 RRP: $32.95 The best-selling author of A Walk in the Woods and I'm a Stranger Here Myself describes his all-American childhood growing up as a member of the baby boom generation in the heart of Iowa, detailing his rich fantasy life as a superhero known as the Thunderbolt Kid and his his remarkably normal 1950s family life. 250,000 first printing....
	Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780767910439 RRP: $18.95 A revised and updated edition of a humorous primer to the English language, expanded for an American audience, contains entries on correct and questionable usage, a glossary, and a pronunciation guide....
	A Short History of Nearly Everything Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780767908184 RRP: $21.95 The author traces the Big Bang through the rise of civilization, documenting his work with a host of the world's most advanced scientists and mathematicians to explain why things are the way they are....
	Bill Bryson's African Diary Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780767915069 RRP: $15.95 A travel writer with little background knowledge of Africa recounts his journey to Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, where he visited slums, historic sites, natural wonders, refugee camps, and relief projects....
	A Short History of Nearly Everything Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780767908177 RRP: $41.95 The author traces the Big Bang through the rise of civilization, documenting his work with a host of the world's most advanced scientists and mathematicians to explain why things are the way they are....
	In a Sunburned Country Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780767903868 RRP: $20.95 The author takes readers on a tour of the land Down Under that goes far beyond packaged-tour routes....
	I'm a Stranger Here Myself Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780767903820 RRP: $20.95 The author describes his return to America after two decades of living abroad and his disconcerting reunion with his homeland as he discusses motels, tax-return instructions, and hardware stores....
	A Walk in the Woods Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780767902526 RRP: $20.95 Traces the author's adventurous trek along the Appalachian Trail past its natural pleasures, human eccentrics, and offbeat comforts...
	Notes from a Small Island Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780380727506 RRP: $19.95 Before returning to America after spending twenty years in Britain, the author decided to tour his second home and presents a look at England's quirks and its endearing qualities...
	Made in America Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780380713813 RRP: $19.95 A history of the American English language consists of entertaining anecdotes that reveal the bizarre and often humorous origins of such familiar words as "Hollywood" and "macaroni." Reprint....
	The Mother Tongue Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780380715435 RRP: $19.95 Provides a humorous history of the English language covering such topics as spelling, pronunciation, swearing, and wordplay....
	Neither Here Nor There Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780380713806 RRP: $19.95 An entertaining account of a European trip blends anecdotes with worldly insights as the author describes the bleak lands of Norway, the exotic scenes of Istanbul, and the cities of Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Rome, Geneva, and Vienna. Reissue....
	The Lost Continent Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780060920081 RRP: $19.95 When a native of Iowa returns from England to wander across America's heartland in search of the perfect small town, the result is a string of hilarious anecdotes and biting social commentary...
	Coffee with Isaac Newton Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9781844836116 RRP: $12.95 Presents a fictionalized interview with Isaac Newton, where the British physicist discusses his life, his work, and his times....
	Shakespeare Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780061363917 RRP: $25.95 A portrait of the bard is presented in the style of a travelogue based on interviews with actors, the curator of Shakespeare's Birthplace, and academics, in an account that also shares the author's whimsical recollections of his own adventures in Stratford-upon-Avon. (Biography & Autobiography)...
	Shakespeare Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780061673696 RRP: $18.95 A portrait of the bard is presented in the style of a travelogue based on interviews with actors, the curator of Shakespeare's Birthplace, and academics, in an account that also shares the author's whimsical recollections of his own adventures in Stratford-upon-Avon. Reprint. 50,000 first printing....

Currently unavailable...

	A Really Short History Of Nearly Everything Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780552562966 Bill's own fascination with science began with a battered old schoolbook he had when he was about ten or eleven years old in America. It had an illustration that captivated him - a cutaway diagram showing Earth's interior as it would look if you cut into it with a large knife and carefully removed about a quarter of its bulk. The idea of lots of startled cars and people falling off the edg...
	A Walk In The Woods Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780385408165 At the age of forty-four, in the company of his friend Stephen Katz, Bill Bryson set off to hike through the vast tangled woods of the longest continuous footpath in the world, the Appalachian Trail. Ahead lay almost 2,200 miles of remote mountain wilderness filled with bears, moose, bobcats, rattlesnakes, poisonous plants, disease-bearing ticks, the occasional chuckling murderer and - perhaps mo...
	Bill Bryson's Bizarre World Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780751510614 ...
	Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780767922692 The best-selling author of A Walk in the Woods presents a readable and informative overview of the English language and the complexities of spelling, capitalization, plurals, hyphens, abbreviations, and many other idiosyncratic quirks, irregularities, and problems of writing. 25,000 first printing....
	Down Under Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780385408172 Forget Crocodile Dundee, Castlemaine XXXX and the 2000 Sydney Olympics - Bill Bryson is the man to put Australia on the map. Bill Bryson has traversed the length and breadth of Australia to bring us his first major new book since the bestselling 'A Walk In The Woods'. Bryson is a household name, synonymous with laugh-out-loud humour, uncontrolled sniggering and spontaneous outbursts of ch...
	Down Under Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780385603096 Forget Crocodile Dundee, Castlemaine XXXX and the 2000 Sydney Olympics - Bill Bryson is the man to put Australia on the map. Bill Bryson has traversed the length and breadth of Australia to bring us his first major new book since the bestselling A Walk in the Woods. Bryson is a household name, synonymous with laugh-out-loud humour, uncontrolled sniggering and spontaneous outbursts of chortling. D...
	Mother Tongue: The English Language Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780140143058 In this hymn to the mother tongue Bill Bryson examines how a language "treated for centuries as the inadequate and second-rate tongue of peasants" has now become the undisputed global language (more people learn English in China than live in the USA). He explains how the words shampoo, sofa, slogan, OK and rowdy (and others drawn from over fifty languages) got into our dictionaries and ho...
	Off the Tourist Trail Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780756653996 Presents a guide to alternative, uncommon travel destinations that replace or complement more popular attractions, and includes the advantages to visiting these sites over popular "tourist traps."...
	Seeing Further Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780062002228 ...
	Seeing Further: 350 Years of the Royal Society and Scientific Endeavour Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780007302567 Since its inception in 1660, the Royal Society has pioneered scientific discovery and exploration. The oldest scientific academy in existence, its backbone is its Fellowship of the most eminent scientists in history including Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. Today, its fellows are the most influential men and women in science, many of whom have contributed to this ground-breaking ...
	Shakespeare: The Illustrated Edition Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780007325238 Bill Bryson's SHAKESPEARE pairs our most celebrated writer in history with one of the most cherished writers in the English language today. In this elegant new illustrated edition, the superstitions, academic discoveries and myths surrounding the life of our greatest poet and playwright are evoked through a series of full-colour paintings, drawings, portraits, documents and photographs. Bryson...
	The Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780385608268 There are many theories on how the Thunderbolt Kid came to attain his fantastic powers, and turned the world into a dangerous place for morons. Some say that the first hints that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came from his discovery, at the age of six, of a woolen jersey of rare fineness. Across the moth-holed chest was a golden thunderbolt. It may have looked like an old college football...
	Troublesome Words Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780140266405 ...
	Troublesome Words Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9780141001357 With 'Troublesome Words', journalist and bestselling travel-writer Bill Bryson gives us a clear, concise and entertaining guide to problems of English usage and spelling. Originally published as 'The Penguin Dictionary Of Troublesome Words', it has been an indispensable companion to those who work with the written word for nearly twenty years. Now fully updated and revised, it is ...
	Troublesome Words Binding: Hardcover ISBN: 9780670899227 Fully Revised and Completely Updated Edition. Should you ever split an infinitive? What's the difference between aiding and abetting? Is it barbecue, barbeque or bar-b-q? The English language is a minefield of difficulty. In this new edition of his famous book, Bill Bryson discusses the problems and offers advice on usage, using examples from recent newspapers to demonstrate his points. This...
	Una breve historia de casi todo/ A Short History of Nearly Everything Binding: Paperback ISBN: 9788478711758 The author traces the Big Bang through the rise of civilization, documenting his work with a host of the world's most advanced scientists and mathematicians to explain why things are the way they are....

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