Bill Bryson is awesome. I was a bit dubious at first with the Dewey classification being in the home section but this is really a history book within which Bryson uses 'the home' to navigate between topics. There are so many quirky and fascinating tidbits of information in this book told in Bryson's clever and uniquely entertaining voice, I would recommend this to anyone.

A very enjoyable and edifying book! Clothing, servants, childbearing and rearing, toilets, wealth and poverty, architecture of large houses, syphilis, bathing, landscaping, wigs, food provision and preparation, building materials, and over a dozen interesting lives of failure, eccentricity and achievements, and much more. Most of it from Britain from the mid 1700s to the early 1900s, but with numerous forays into America and earlier centuries. Curiosity, patience, and friendliness characterise the prose.

I am a big fan of Bill Bryson's writing and enjoyed this book. After reading this book, I have become fixated with the Crystal Palace and Capability Brown!!!

Bill Bryson's 'At Home' title is not as simple as it sounds. Industry surrounds us where and how we have ever lived. My favorite chapter is "The Fuse Box" which chronicles whaling to drilling oil to electricity. Try reading this less than 10x.

Trust Bill Bryson to write his most wide-ranging book yet without leaving home. Framed as an exploration of his 1851 British parsonage, this fascinating history delves into the astonishing stories behind each room of a house and its contents. What's most astonishing is how commonplace amenities like cushions and adequate lighting were once revolutionary luxuries. Readers will gain newfound appreciation for the astonishingly recent concept of being comfortable at home.

Bill Bryson takes the reader on a marvelous journey, exploring the history of everyday objects "At Home."

This is a fact-filled walk through the author's home, an 1800's parsonage modeled after british buildings of the time. How does Bryson do it? There are so many trivial history factoids, you wonder where the heck he researches everything. Or does he?

Love Bryson. Favorite book of his: A Walk in the Woods. That book is hysterical. Bryson is smart and funny, I believe. This book...meh. He writes so well that it's difficult for me to withhold the stars.

Recommended for New England residents living in old rectories, or anyone in the market for the same.

Bill Bryson, author of fascinating works on the English language, as well as a number of humorous travel and adventure tales, invites the reader in At Home to join him on a journey through the various rooms found in his home in the Norfolk countryside in England. In each, we learn how the space originated, the history of the items found within it, and how its usage changed throughout history.
If you enjoy Bill Bryson, you will also love this. In fact, Bill Bryson ought to be writing textbooks for all manner of subjects generally considered boring. I read the illustrated edition, which quickly surpassed my expectations, and was an experience I did not wish to end.

Bill Bryson never fails to amuse, and to some extent, educate. He's all over the map with this one, but you'll come away with all sorts of awesome trivial information.

The social history of England, based on the premise, 'There's no place like home' is presented with Bill Bryson's inimitable flair in a very palatable informative fashion.Ideal for either dipping or cover-to-cover reading.Most enjoyable.