Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson (William McGuire Bryson, born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951) is an American writer best known for his travel books, popular science and works on the English language. Although he was raised in the American Midwest, he spent most of his adult life in Britain, and he moved back to the United States for several periods. His wry, curious eye for places and everyday habits has won him a wide readership across the English-speaking world and beyond.

He left Drake University in 1972 to spend a few months backpacking around Europe, and the following year he returned with a school friend. Those journeys became travel books such as Neither Here Nor There, and Notes from a Small Island, a portrait of Britain that remains one of his best-loved titles. He worked as a journalist in London, first on the business pages of The Times and later at The Independent, and gave up newspaper work in 1987 to write full time. His style pairs close observation with irony and plain, clear prose that makes complicated subjects easy to follow.

A Walk in the Woods recounts his attempt to hike part of the Appalachian Trail with an old friend, while A Short History of Nearly Everything, published in 2003, traces the history of science from its modest beginnings. The book won the Aventis Prize in 2004 and made him one of the best-known names in popular science. He also wrote about the history of English, in The Mother Tongue, and about domestic life, in At Home. His legacy lies largely in making history, science and language appealing to readers without specialist training, and in sustaining a huge readership over several decades.