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Icons of England

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Icons of England

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: David Rintoul, Barnaby Edwards, Ben Eagle, Terence Wilton, Sara Poyzer, Homer Todiwala, Leda Hodgson, Sara Novak
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin

This celebration of the English countryside does not only focus on the rolling green landscapes and magnificent monuments that set England apart from the rest of the world. Many of the contributors bring their own special touch, presenting a refreshingly eclectic variety of personal icons, from pub signs to seaside piers, from cattle grids to canal boats, and from village cricket to nimbies.

First published as a lavish colour coffeetable book, this new expanded edition has double the original number of contributions from many celebrities including Bill Bryson, Michael Palin, Eric Clapton, Bryan Ferry, Sebastian Faulks, Kate Adie, Kevin Spacey, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Richard Mabey , Simon Jenkins, John Sergeant, Benjamin Zephaniah, Joan Bakewell, Antony Beevor, Libby Purves, Jonathan Dimbleby, and many more: and a new preface by HRH Prince Charles.

© Bill Bryson 2011 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

 Europe Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Rural Science Sociology Travel Writing & Commentary Western Europe Village

Critic reviews

An icon in itself, with essays from many great writers on their favourite English sights
bsolute must for Anglophiles of all ages... A delightfully wistful book, written with enormous affection
A collection of thought-provoking essays celebrating Britain's rural heritage
All stars
Most relevant
I'm just bursting with British pride 😊what a wonderful amount of interesting things and places we have here on our Island 👍There is so much to be appreciated no matter how small🙏 it's what makes us who we are 🇬🇧

Delightful 😊

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Some of these essays are a genuine delight, thank you. Sadly some contributors can't resist the opportunity to promote something or to preach.

A Curates Egg

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Too long, but it has good points. As above this font size is ridiculously small.

This is impossible to read, the font is far too small. As above this font size is ridiculously small.

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absolutely a pleasure to listen to and so interesting about the vagaries of British life and fauna

I love this gentle listen an education and delight

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Not totally rubbish in itself, but this title looks like a full book by Bryson...
Instead, he only edited it and is just a collection of unique essays by a large range of people on England.
Nothing against the essays themselves, I'm certainly not qualified to criticize them, it just isn't a book that's all.

Misleading

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