At Home: A short history of private life
A new and beautifully illustrated edition of the bestselling book by Bill Bryson – does for the history of the way we live what A Short History of Nearly Everything did for science.
What does history really consist of? Centuries of people quietly going about their daily business – sleeping, eating, having sex, endeavouring to get comfortable. And where did all these normal activities take place? At home.
This was the thought that inspired Bill Bryson to start a journey around the rooms of his own house, an 1851 Norfolk rectory, to consider how the ordinary things in life came to be.
And what he discovered are surprising connections to anything from the Crystal Palace to the Eiffel Tower, from scurvy to body-snatching, from bedbugs to the Industrial Revolution, and just about everything else that has ever happened, resulting in one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live, enhanced in this new edition by hundreds of stunning photographs and illustrations.
A gorgeous thing to hold, a wonderful thing to read.
Random House - NZ$65.00 - 554 pages.
Footnote:
My warmest thanks to the special friend who gave me this glorious book for Christmas..
I plan to talk to Wallace Chapman about this tile this coming Sunday morning on Radio Live.
By the way I noticed copies of the book at the splendid Village Bookshop in Matakana if you wish to view it and are in the area.
What does history really consist of? Centuries of people quietly going about their daily business – sleeping, eating, having sex, endeavouring to get comfortable. And where did all these normal activities take place? At home.
This was the thought that inspired Bill Bryson to start a journey around the rooms of his own house, an 1851 Norfolk rectory, to consider how the ordinary things in life came to be.
And what he discovered are surprising connections to anything from the Crystal Palace to the Eiffel Tower, from scurvy to body-snatching, from bedbugs to the Industrial Revolution, and just about everything else that has ever happened, resulting in one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live, enhanced in this new edition by hundreds of stunning photographs and illustrations.
A gorgeous thing to hold, a wonderful thing to read.
Random House - NZ$65.00 - 554 pages.
Footnote:
My warmest thanks to the special friend who gave me this glorious book for Christmas..
I plan to talk to Wallace Chapman about this tile this coming Sunday morning on Radio Live.
By the way I noticed copies of the book at the splendid Village Bookshop in Matakana if you wish to view it and are in the area.
No comments:
Post a Comment