At Home A Short History of Private Life

Hardback (27 May 2010)

Not available for sale

Includes delivery to the United States

Out of stock

This service is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Other formats/editions

Publisher's Synopsis

InAt Home,Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose and masterful storytelling that madeA Short History of Nearly Everythingone of the most lauded books of the last decade, and delivers one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live.

Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote a lot 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 - eating, sleeping and merely endeavouring to get more comfortable. And that most of the key discoveries for humankind can be found in the very fabric of the houses in which we live.This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, wandering from room to room considering how the ordinary things in life came to be.

Along the way he did a prodigious amount of research on 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 on the brilliant, creative and often eccentric minds behind them. And he discovered that, although there may seem to be nothing as unremarkable as our domestic lives, there is a huge amount of history, interest and excitement - and even a little danger - lurking in the corners of every home.

About the Publisher

Doubleday

Doubleday

Doubleday is an imprint of Transworld Publishers and publishes bestselling authors such as Bill Bryson, Joanne Harris, Terry Pratchett and Kate Atkinson in hardback.

Book information

ISBN: 9780385608275
Publisher: Transworld
Imprint: Doubleday
Pub date:
DEWEY: 306.09
DEWEY edition: 22
Number of pages: 536
Weight: 833g
Height: 240mm
Width: 162mm
Spine width: 45mm