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klparmley's review
2.0
This was the least impressive of Bryson's books. It was poorly researched and makes me question the accuracy of other things he has written. I was disappointed.
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
A pleasure. An education!
I didn't expect to find this as absolutely fascinating as I did. Right from the offset, when we are plunged into the world of the Great Exhibition, Bryson uses his own quite home as the basis of a series of connected essays/ramblings on the social history contained within every room in the house.
The history of washing, rats and bats, why chairs were once placed around the outsides of rooms, the development of knowledge of vitamins, it's just wonderful!
I love social history, and this touches on so many topics, one of my favourite parts concerned the free time of the gentlemen rectors/vicars, but I admired Bryson's structure and the use of rooms in a house to cover so much in one volume.
This was an audiobook read for me, narrated (and very well) by the author. You won't be bored by this, it's endlessly intriguing.
A good reminder that so much of history isn't the famous wars, celebrities and dates, but that it happened all around us, and often because of everyday people and our needs that big chances came about.
I didn't expect to find this as absolutely fascinating as I did. Right from the offset, when we are plunged into the world of the Great Exhibition, Bryson uses his own quite home as the basis of a series of connected essays/ramblings on the social history contained within every room in the house.
The history of washing, rats and bats, why chairs were once placed around the outsides of rooms, the development of knowledge of vitamins, it's just wonderful!
I love social history, and this touches on so many topics, one of my favourite parts concerned the free time of the gentlemen rectors/vicars, but I admired Bryson's structure and the use of rooms in a house to cover so much in one volume.
This was an audiobook read for me, narrated (and very well) by the author. You won't be bored by this, it's endlessly intriguing.
A good reminder that so much of history isn't the famous wars, celebrities and dates, but that it happened all around us, and often because of everyday people and our needs that big chances came about.
protoman21's review against another edition
3.0
This book was great for what it was, but I have never been that into history, so I found myself only interested in the interesting parts. Officially this gets 3.5 stars, but I just couldn't round up to 4 and feel good about my rating. Bryson does an admirable job of tracing the unexpected history of many everyday things and presenting the material in an informative yet entertaining manner. He doesn't shy away from the controversial or the unpleasant, but does spend most of his time on the history of England and America. Ultimately there were some sections that grabbed your attention more than others which led to the waxing and waning of my interest.
applegnreads's review against another edition
3.0
Bryson is still as funny but not as interesting. Still, that could be my fault. What is not my fault is the structure of the book which is odd and not always as good as it could have been. On the upside, he does a better job in this one than in Short History of Nearly Everything of reminding us of that odd character that he was talking about three chapters ago by giving us a little clue about said character. In all, I recommend it to those who find private life, specifically that of England and to a lesser extent of America and Europe, more interesting than I do.
tbf9002's review against another edition
5.0
Love it love it love it! So interesting, such a great way to intertwine British history into a cohesive story.
nicolette_s_l's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
4.5