Bill Bryson is one of my favourite living writers, and I don't think there's a book of his I haven't read yet. His charming book "Notes from a small island" became a huge number-one bestseller when it was first published, and has become the nation's most loved book about Britain, going on to sell over two million copies.
In 1995, before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire to move back to the States for a few years with his family, Bill Bryson insisted on taking one last trip around Britain, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home.
His aim was to take stock of the nation's public face and private parts (as it were), and to analyse what precisely it was he loved so much about a country that had produced Marmite; a military hero whose dying wish was to be kissed by a fellow named Hardy; place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey and Shellow Bowells; people who said 'Mustn't grumble', and ‘Ooh lovely’ at the sight of a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits; and Gardeners' Question Time.
Re-reading his book laid up in bed is my way of spending a lazy Sunday. Now, thanks to YouTube, you can also watch the BBC television series:
This is not the full television series; for that you have to do what I did and go out and buy the DVDs, but it's a pretty good start, isn't it?
In 2013, travel writer Ben Aitken decided to follow in Bill Bryson's footsteps - literally - by tracing the trip taken by Bill Bryon in his classic tribute to the British Isles, "Notes from a Small Island". Staying at the same hotels, ordering the same food, and even spending the same amount of time in the bath, Aitken's irreverent homage to Bill Bryson's 1995 travel classic is filled with wit, insight and humour.
