Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything

  • By: Bill Bryson
  • Narrated by: Bill Bryson
  • Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (694 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Bill Bryson
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

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. His challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science.

It's not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the Earth, or what a black hole is, or where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?

On his travels through time and space, Bill Bryson takes us with him on the ultimate eye-opening journey and reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.

©2003 Bill Bryson (P)2003 Random House Audiobooks
  • Abridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

A History of the World cover art
The Lost Continent cover art
Made in America cover art
Cosmos cover art
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry cover art
Guns, Germs and Steel cover art
The Theory of Evolution: A History of Controversy cover art
A Most Improbable Journey cover art
A Brief History of Creation cover art
48 Laws of Power cover art
The Fabric of the Cosmos cover art
When Humans Nearly Vanished cover art
The Clockwork Universe cover art
Welcome to the Universe cover art
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! cover art
It's Not Rocket Science cover art

What listeners say about A Short History of Nearly Everything

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    529
  • 4 Stars
    130
  • 3 Stars
    24
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    430
  • 4 Stars
    82
  • 3 Stars
    26
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    418
  • 4 Stars
    98
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A thought creating Book.

Most incredible book I have ever listened to,
Truly thought provoking.
This is a beautifully narrated Book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful journey into the history of science

I've read this book many times and now took the opportunity to hear Bill tell the story. I'm a big Bill fan, but this book is simply wonderful. Everyone should hear it and give themselves a little education in scientific discovery. Especially in today's world.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Informative yet hard going.

Hard going at times, but very informative. Science and history combined into 6 hours of listening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

Another great book, a whistle stop tour thru space, life on earth, discoveries, science and genetics with the future in mind

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A Joy to listen to

In bed with flu - very cold outside. The book has been sitting on my bookshelf for(many) years - always found it hard to stick with for long but desperately wanted to read it. I have loved every second of this audio version. I know it’s abridged, and that I drifted off to sleep a few times, so I very much look forward to revisiting it. Thank you Bill Bryson - thank you Audible - how lucky we are to be here and have such things to educate and entertain us without even opening our eyes ♥️

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb

Bill Brysons enthusiasm and wit permeate every page of this book. The awards and paudits it has received are well deserved. The audio book races along at a good pace and the narrator captures the dryness of Brysons humour.
The book seeks to explain, in an accessible way, how science got to where it is today, some of the false trails that were followed and what is still unknown. Bill Bryson starts from the standpoint of his own youthful wonder at how scientists could possibly know what they did. His book is a personal voyage of discovery - the viewpoint of an enthusiastic layperson.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Nice, Bill Bryson does it again.

I loved this book. If you like history and factual lectures, try this book. Awesome!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting, and enjoyable

I really enjoyed this,some of the info is out of date, but it is 20 years old. Bryson brakes down the science so that it is easy to understand without taking down to you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Listen!

Loved it! Such an interesting book.
I would recommend this to anyone who has a brain😄

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

Awesome book to listen to, I look forward to listening to others in the short history series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful