From bestselling author Bill Bryson comes this compelling short biography of William Shakespeare, our greatest dramatist and poet.

Packed with fascinating facts on the English language, 'Mother Tongue' is an entertaining and didactic investigation of the influence and distribution of the language worldwide and its origins as a second-rate tongue spoken by peasants.

Should you ever split an infinitive? What's the difference between aiding and abetting? The English language is a minefield of difficulty. In this new edition of his book, Bill Bryson discusses the problems and offers advice on usage.

The author 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. This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, considering how the ordinary things in life came to be. This book is about the history of the way we live.

The author's first travel book, The Lost Continent, was unanimously acclaimed as one of the funniest books in years. In this book, he deals with Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia.

Bryson's acclaimed first success, The Lost Continent is a classic of travel literature - hilariously, stomach-achingly, funny, yet tinged with heartache - and the book that first staked Bill Bryson's claim as the most beloved writer of his generation.

In the summer of 1927, America had a booming stock market, a president who worked just four hours a day (and slept much of the rest), a devastating flood of the Mississippi, a sensational murder trial, and an unknown aviator named Charles Lindbergh who became the most famous man on earth. It was the summer that saw the birth of talking pictures, the invention of television, the peak of Al Capone's reign of terror, the horrifying bombing of a school in Michigan, the thrillingly improbable return to greatness of an over-the-hill baseball player named Babe Ruth, and an almost impossible amount...

In 1995, before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire to move back to the States for a few years with his family, the author insisted on taking one last trip around Britain. This book tells about his experiences.

Marking the twentieth anniversary of Notes from a Small Island, the author makes a brand-new journey round Britain to see what has changed. He gives us an acute and perceptive insight into all that is best and worst about Britain.

In the company of his friend Stephen Katz (last seen in the bestselling Neither Here nor There), Bill Bryson set off to hike the Appalachian Trail, the longest continuous footpath in the world.