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At Home: A Short History of Private Life
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
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At Home: A Short History of Private Life
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Summary
Here is Bill Bryson’s entertaining and illuminating book about the history of the way we live - complete, unabridged and read by the author.
Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business. This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, considering how the ordinary things in life came to be. Along the way, he researched the history of anything and everything, from architecture to electricity, from food preservation to epidemics, from the spice trade to the Eiffel Tower, from crinolines to toilets. And he discovered that there is a huge amount of history, interest and excitement - and even a little danger - lurking in the corners of every home.
Where A Short History of Nearly Everything was a sweeping panorama of the world, the universe and everything, At Home peers at private life through a microscope. 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.
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What listeners say about At Home: A Short History of Private Life
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Laura
- 25-02-22
Full of facts but feels like a story
Looked that Bill Bryson himself read this. I’ve ordered a hard copy as there’s just so much to take in! The structure and flow is perfect.
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- romperstomper
- 08-11-21
soothing performance of an excellent Bryson
I strongly recommend the audiobook version as the lightweight meandering topic is well suited to Bryson's soothing tones.
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- Bea weston
- 22-04-22
Fascinating stuff
Really interesting to hear where so many commonplace things, names and sayings come from. Bill Bryson writes so engagingly.
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- Anonymous User
- 20-08-22
my first bill bryson book
Can't wait to read another one of his books. This was really interesting.
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- lynn m clayton
- 11-07-22
Loved this book!
I really enjoyed this audio book and I learnt so much. I’m a big fan of Bill Bryson and this was another good read (or listen). Excellently narrated by Bill.
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- T Iley
- 28-01-23
Utterly brilliant!
The first book to engage in me any real interest in history. Beautifully written and narrated and infinitely informative. How far we have come and how destructive we are…….
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- Maria Saxby
- 21-06-23
absolute comfort in book form
funny, interesting, easy to dip in and out of. I love it and have listened to it over and over
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- Jeff
- 24-06-23
Interesting and informative
Not what I expected but we’ll worth a listen especially if you enjoy a bit of history.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Paul
- 27-09-10
Outstanding
Bryson does it again weaving a merry path of fact upon fact upon fact as he takes us on a tour around the origins of the home. If you like interesting general and not so general knowledge and are interested in the way we are, where we are from and how we came to develop ideas then you should listen to this. Its like throwing open an encyclopaedia and exploring and researching thread after thread of information. Absorbing!!
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4 people found this helpful
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- Katherine
- 07-05-13
Great Book, Great Delivery!
A joy to hear Bryson's wit with his own timing and tempo. His softened American accent, while in truth is not best suited for narration, is more than made up for in the delivery of his material as intended.
The book itself is a eclectic mash up of researched social history, distilled into portions with both alarming amount of fact and entertainment. Each chapter is never too long or tedious, and the variety of information is huge. This book (and Bryson's others) have kept me in dinner party conversation for the last year.
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