Bøker av Bill Bryson

The author describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. This title is about his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us.

In the company of his friend Stephen Katz (last seen in the bestselling Neither Here nor There), Bill Bryson set off to hike the Appalachian Trail, the longest continuous footpath in the world.

It is the driest, flattest, hottest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents and still Australia teems with life - a large portion of it quite deadly.

What does history really consists of? Centuries of people quietly going about their daily business. And where did all these normal activities take place? At home. Taking a journey around the rooms of his own house, an 1851 Norfolk rectory, the author discovered surprising connections in relation to the history of the way we live.

Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country.

In 1995, before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire to move back to the States for a few years with his family, Bill 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 'Ooh lovely' at the sight of a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits; and Gardeners' Question Time. Notes from a Small Island was a huge number-one bestseller when it was first published, and has become the nation's most loved book about Britain, going on to sell over two million copies.

Edited and introduced by Bill Bryson, with contributions from Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Richard Holmes, Martin Rees, Richard Fortey, Steve Jones, James Gleick and Neal Stephenson amongst others, this beautiful, lavishly illustrated book tells the story of science and the Royal Society, from 1660 to the present.

A celebration of the English countryside that focuses on the rolling green landscapes and magnificent monuments that set England apart from the rest of the world. It also presents an eclectic variety of personal icons, from pub signs to seaside piers, from cattle grids to canal boats, and from village cricket to nimbies.

Presenting a tour of English from its mongrel origins to its status as the world's most-spoken tongue; its apparent simplicity to its deceptive complexity; its vibrant swearing to its uncertain spelling and pronunciation, this book covers curious eccentricities that make it as maddening to learn and as flexible to use.

In summer 1927, America had a booming stock market, a president who worked just four hours a day (and slept much of the rest), a devastating flood of the Mississippi, a sensational murder trial, and an unknown aviator named Charles Lindbergh who became the most famous man on earth.

Originally published as The Penguin Dictionary for Writers and Editors, Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors has now been completely revised and updated for the twenty-first century by Bill Bryson himself.

Troublesome Words is playful and riddlesome guide to the English language from the bestselling author of Notes from a Small Island and A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill BrysonWhat 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 for over twenty years. So if you want to discover whether you should care about split infinitives, are cursed with an uncontrollable outbreak of commas or were wondering if that newsreader was right to say 'an historic day', this superb book is the place to find out.

Bill Bryson's first travel book, The Lost Continent, was unanimously acclaimed as one of the funniest books in years. In Neither Here nor There he 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 motorists of Paris, being robbed by gypsies in Florence, attempting not to order tripe and eyeballs in a German restaurant or window-shopping in the sex shops of the Reeperbahn, Bryson takes in the sights, dissects the culture and illuminates each place and person with his hilariously caustic observations. He even goes to Liechtenstein.

Bill Bryson's first travel book opened with the immortal line, 'I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.' In this deeply funny and personal memoir, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, in the curious world of 1950s Middle America.

Tells the story of how American arose out of the English language, and along the way, de-mythologizes his native land - explaining how a dusty desert hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', and more.

The author has the rare knack of being out of his depth wherever he goes - even (perhaps especially) in the land of his birth. Whether discussing the strange appeal of breakfast pizza or the jaw-slackening direness of American TV, the author brings his brand of bemused wit to bear on that strangest of phenomena - the American way of life.

After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson took the decision to move Mrs Bryson, little Jimmy et al back to the States for a while.

A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson's quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. It's not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know.

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A stage adaptation of Bill Bryson's smash-hit memoir, one of the nation's most beloved books, and a brilliant dissection of the enduring quirks of our small island.

International bestseller Bill Bryson brings us this brilliantly readable biography of the world's greatest playwright, William Shakespeare.Join Bill as he takes you on a journey through Elizabethan England, tackling the myths, half-truths and downright lies to make sense of the man behind the masterpieces.Revel in this glorious celebration of the life of Shakespeare from the much-loved author of 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' and 'Notes from a Small Island'.

Ny populærvitenskapelig bok fra en av verdens mest kjente forfattere.«Vi tilbringer hele livet i én kropp. Likevel har de fleste av oss minimal peiling på hvordan den egentlig fungerer. Ideen bak denne boka er simpelthen å forsøke å forstå den ekstraordinære innretningen som er oss» Dette skriver Bill Bryson i sin nye bok, som har fått den enkle og umiddelbare tittelen Kroppen. Tidligere har denne bestselgende og prisvinnende forfatteren vist at han kan gjøre naturvitenskap både forståelig og underholdende i boken En kort historie om nesten alt, som ble en suksess verden over.Nå vender Bryson blikket innover - på kroppens enestående funksjoner og evnen til å kurere seg selv. Boken er full av spennende fakta og historier, morsom og lettlest, og tar for seg alt fra hjerne og lunger til mikrober, søvn og sykdom. «Det jeg forstod, er at vi er uendelig mye mer kompliserte og vidunderlige, og også mer mystiske, enn jeg hadde trodde», skriver Bill Bryson om boken han nå gir ut. Og konkluderer: «Det finnes ingen mer fascinerende historie enn den om oss selv».

Denne boka er forfatterens forsøk på å forstå hva som har skjedd fra Big Bang til i dag: Hvordan kom vi oss egentlig hit vi er i dag? Hvordan vokste moderne sivilisasjoner frem? En røff guide til vitenskapshistoriens greatest hits.