Bill Bryson Books

Anyone who enjoys metalworking and is searching for introductory information on heat treating will find this book is a thing of beauty. To quote the preface, "This is not a book about metallurgy, but a book that describes in simple terms what happens to metal during heat treatment!" Right from the start ("Chapter 1. What is Steel" and "Chapter 2. Exactly What is Heat Treatment Doing?") the author explains step-by-step how to treat the major classes and most common alloys of tool steel. If you want to know the how and why of hardening, tempering and annealing at a level that will allow you to really do it yourself, look no further.

The book decodes the naming conventions, explains the differences between air, water and oil steels, offers insight into the effects of various alloys and provides full recipes for hardening, quenching and tempering the most used steels. He goes on to discuss the effects of subsequent operations such as grinding, welding and EDM. The back is filled with tables with data for all the steels you're ever likely to use.

I had tried a few project prior to finding this book with mixed results, mostly because it's impossible to tell "straw" from "pale amber" with going through an old-fashioned apprenticeship. This book offers exact instructions, temperatures, soak schedules and tips that produce excellent results.

On finding the link to recommend this book to a friend, I was shocked to find that it had such a low reader rating (3/5 stars). Of the six other reviews here, three are the arrogant sarcasm of people who have so much free time that they read about other people's vacations. Regarding the fourth, if you are as well versed in 16th century texts on metallurgy as in the "cutting edge" of technology, then this book is not for you either.

I don't know much about heat treatment myself, but if this Bill Bryson doesn't then he sure has me fooled. Following the step-by-step instructions in this book has got to be WAY better than guesswork with a torch and a pail of water, no matter what some snobs might think. The instructions appear detailed and probably more cautious and meticulous than I would actually be in practice. If anybody has better info than this, they ought to stop alluding mysteriously and write their own book to let us all in on the secret.

The only "fault" with the book I can see is it is a bit redundant for bedtime reading material, being organized for practical work.

This is an entirely different Bill Bryson from the guy who writes travel/history books. Don't let the joking, stupid, and/or over-puffed reviews here deter you from doing heat treatment a whole lot better than you are probably doing it now.

I bought this book about a year ago in order to understand the heat treating process of common tool steels. It is a well written set of "recipes" for the hobby and home shop machinist. It is not a canonical text on metallurgy.
So far I have used it to heat treat several projects that I used A2 (air hardening) tool steel in. I found the directions easy to follow and got the desired results without any mistakes.
As always, one should follow the manufacturers recommendations for a particular steel. The manufacturer specifies the "what". This book specifies the "how" (and some of the "why".)
I highly recommend this book.
-David Utidjian-

I agree with Julian, while this particular book may be a bit more technical than his others, it is certainly worth the money and belongs on every Bryson fan's shelf. The insights into metal are as plentiful as the humor - especially when the author dives into the always hilarious topics of carburization and TTT diagrams. Side splitting! I never knew that working with metals could be so entertaining but I guess I should expect that from Bryson. He can make any topic a joy.

While the book provides a wide range of knowledge - I'm sure this will become the standard for manuals on grinding which I think is the books strongest section. It is also the section the allows Bryson to really exercise his comedic genuis even if some of the humor may be lost on the casual fan.

My only complaint is that this gem isn't available on audio-cassette but I'm sure that Random House will fix that soon. I would love to hear these words from Bill's own mouth especially when he talks about getting the most out of a furnace!

Also make sure to look for Bill's book "Cryogenics" which I think he was working on while still living in England - it, too, is a joy to read - especially the highly entertaining section on liquid nitrogen! The section on Stress in Materials was also top notch - almost as humorous as his observations about the women of Iowa in earlier books. Keep up the good work Bill!

I am always surprized at the lack of information about the metal heat treating field. This book is definitely included in this. Although many of the processing techniques are good, some make me cringe and want to run for cover. The metallurgical information is remaniscent of Biringuccio or Agricola, both written in the 1500's. If you have enough metallurgical knowledge to know what is correct and what processing techniques are good, then you don't need this book. If you don't have enough knowledge to decipher this, then it is unreliable. On a lighter note, the other sections, not dealing with heat treating, seem good.

BRYSON'S DICTIONARY FOR WRITERS AND EDITORS BY BILL BRYSON: Bestselling author Bill Bryson has already amassed quite a career for himself with successful travel writing books like A Walk in the Woods and In a Sunburned Country, as well as books on literature and language like The Mother Tongue and Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, and even attempting to present a concise history of science with A Short History of Nearly Everything; Bryson now returns with Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors.

He admits in his preface that it is a personal collection, "built over thirty years as a writer and editor in two countries," and that some of the obscure references and definitions may not be useful to many, like the name of the Sydney district Woolloomooloo, or that the residence of the Danish Royal Family in Copenhagen is the Amalienborg Palace. Nevertheless, Bryson addresses many of the common issues that make a writer hesitate - amoral or immoral? Effect or affect?. He dispenses with the dictionary's phonetic alphabet, instead providing pronunciation help where necessary; as well as cross indexing so that in the example mentioned above, the entry can be found filed under both amoral and immoral for the writer's and editor's ease.

Bryson's Dictionary is filled with innumerable references and spellings for authors, book titles, series, philosophers, scientists . . . you name it, making them even easier to find than looking up on the Internet. Bryson also includes appendices of punctuation and its definitions, words ending in -able and -ible, a list of the world's airports and their codes, the different currencies of the world, conversion tables, and an extensive glossary on grammar.

Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors is the ideal book for most people who do any sort of reading and writing, whether it is the freshman heading off for college for the first time, the freelance writer looking to get published, or the retired crossword addict looking for exact spelling at their fingertips.

[...]

This book is FUN and so helpful. Keep it by my bed and read a few pages before falling asleep. I keep learning more wonderful and unique facts about language, about life, about so many things. Try it. You'll love it!

May D

The book is a dictionary about difficult or strange expressions and names. It's a new edition of Bryson's 2002 "Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words". It's very nice written (typically Bryson's style), full of cynical explanations that will make you laugh and enormously useful when writing English texts.
As a German speaking human being, I have to admit that there are quite a lot of misspelled German words... But this unfortunately seems to be quite often the case with Americans writing in German (... and vice versa...)

With a different title I would have given this book five stars, and I would highly recommend it for newsrooms.

But the majority of the world's writers and editors do not work in newsrooms. They do not write news articles. They write web pages or annual reports for corporations or books on software or educational materials or white papers on technical topics or corporate policy statements or publicity pieces -- or a thousand other kinds of writing, often with audiences just as large as a newspaper's circulation.

The problem with this book, in other words, is not the quality of its entries, but their selection. The book has lots of help for accurate spelling of proper names, but surprisingly little help with topics that today are either ubiquitous or ubiquitous for large swaths of society.

Under "E," for example, you will find an entry for "Elliot, Denholm" with the correct spelling of that actor's name. But you won't find an entry on "email" discussing whether the preferred spelling is hyphenated ("e-mail"). Nor will you find any guidance on "e-commerce" (or eCommerce or E-commerce or any of a number of other variants). You will (thank goodness?) find the correct spelling of "Edgware Road," the London street and Underground station.

Under "H" you will find the correct spellings of Harper's Bazaar, Harpers Ferry, Harper's Magazine and Hartsfield-Jackson (note the hyphen!) Atlanta International Airport. What you won't find is any discussion of the compound "health care" and whether it should ever be written as a solid (as in "universal healthcare").

Also under "H" you will find the correct spellings of Hindu Kush (the Afghan mountain range), Hippocrates (ancient Greek physician), and Al Hirschfield (the American caricaturist). But you won't find a reminder that the correct acronym for the landmark 1996 legislation (provisions of which affect every U.S. hospital, medical facility, health plan, and pharmaceutical company) is HIPAA, not HIPPA (which is how it's pronounced), because the full name of that legislation is the "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act."

Bottom line: This is not a bad book; it's just a book primarily for newspeople. It should have been promoted as such.

The two stars (rather than none) is for the fact that there are lots of entries that are actually useful (equable vs. equitable; precipitant, precipitate, and precipitous; stanch vs. staunch), and for the most part they are very clearly written. And when an entry calls for advice -- see, for example, the entry on "hopefully" -- Bryson's taste and judgment are sound.

This is one of those little works that may or may not appeal to the average reader, and may or may not live up to the expectations of its title. I have a very large shelf of reference books, dictionaries, and the like setting above my desk. I also have my computer in front of me (obviously, as I am using it now). A small 300 plus page book is in no way going to replace these books or my temperamental machine, or even come close. When I purchase this little volume, I did not have the unrealistic expectations that in was the beginning and end of all reference books. Rather, I enjoy Bryson's writing. I enjoy trivia. I enjoy having little books around that I can pick up, read a few lines and enjoy them and learn something to boot. This work fulfilled my personal needs quite well. I seldom take anything Bryson writes all that serious, but I personally think he is funny and I do enjoy his quirky, curious mind.

This, according to the author's statement is a persona list of words, names, places, etc. that he has encountered over the years. It addresses the usage of these words; it gives a brief one line description of places, people and things. It also, as the author points out, addresses words that are sort of at the edge of your mind, i.e. you know of them, sort of, you know of their usage, sort of, but you are not quite sure. As an example, and this pertains to just me, Bryson tells us the difference between "douse" and "dowse." Now I know these two words, but to be frank, was not real sure of the difference when I really stopped to think of it. This book quickly explains it in just twelve words. Neat! I have always, for some reason had problems with the usage of "its" verses "it's." (I know, I am an illiterate clod, no use in pointing it out). Bryson explains their usage in a quick, pain free, three lines. This is sure nicer than digging through The Little, Brown Handbook, and trying to figure out what in the world they are talking about.

If you spend your hard earned money on a short work such as this and expect to receive an all inclusive reference book, then you probably deserve to be parted from your cash. If you buy this simply for the entertainment value, then you will probably get your monies worth.

I have always been an ethusiastic fan of Bryson. From "The Mother Tongue" to his recent, "The World is a Stage", Bryson writes objectivly, clearly, and with humurous cynacism. So, I was very excited when this audiobook of three of his older stories came out.
In quick summary, I found "Im a Stranger Here Myself" remarkably funny (just listen to Bryson's explanation of the American phenomana of the attic, american hosptality, or the garbage disposal) from beginning to end. "Notes from a Small Island" starts off exciting, with Bryson reminiscing over his first trip to England as a teenager, while parelling it to his most recent trip as a wiser adult, noting both physical and cultural differences (with an extremely funny account of his stay in an English Inn), although it wanes after awhile, with Bryson seeming to run out of novel things to say as he heads north. "Neither Here nor There" I was dissapointed with. Bryson tries to quickly summarize the nuances of many European countries, noting their eccentricities and habits. I think Bryson bit off a little more then he could chew; you can't summarize the history and culture of Switzerland, Italy, France, Sweden, and many others in just a few hundred pages without appearing redudent and hasty. I was in danger of falling asleep in my car.
Bryson narrates and is very soft spoken. My volume was all the way up just to hear him. But he is a great narrator, and I wish I had more his books spoken through his voice. Overall worth getting and a great value for three Bryson books, but certainly at this point in his career not the cream of the crop.

I bought this set to listen to on a long car trip, too. It seems to me that these stories would be quite usefully informational to the prospective traveler. There is a strong male perspective, especially in Neither Here Nor There, that I expect the male reader will get a kick out of.

Notes from a Small Island gives a different slant on Great Britain, that is, a pedestrian point of view. Bryson delves into minutia of potential interest to those backpacking, and especially some good tips on where not to go. The populace of remote locations is interestingly illuminated, proving that not every one lives in the current century.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself draws attention to American foibles, with specific humorous references to modes of transportation. It also scores many good points regarding the excesses of the American lifestyle.

All in all a fun ramble. However, do not expect a life-altering experience.

I have a small collection of Bill Bryson audio books and I enjoy them all immensely. The fact that they are read by the author, only increases the enjoyability. These stories are not only entertaining, but quite educational as well. Bill Bryson is a gifted writer who can really "bring you there", makes you want to visit the places he is in...and right now. I'm looking forward to expanding my collection. You won't be sorry with your purchase.

I purchased the audio book to listen to on a long car trip. The reading by the author is great, however the quality of the recording is inconsistent. Mr. Bryson's natural intonation is fairly low to flat, but as his voice rose (occasionally) and fell (frequently) during his reading of the material, there was little to no effort by the post production team to modulate and equalize the volume - making the lower tones inaudiable. At one point I had the volume on my car stereo at maximum and was still missing words and parts of sentences, only to be almost blasted from my seat when a new chapter would start and the volume level rose precipitously. I own 2 other audio books by Mr. Bryson and did not have the same experience with those products.

It is a wonderful book telling about all the hills and valleys and walking trails of England. You haven't seen an English country side until you have visited England. Highly recommend this book. Nice pictures and information.

The English countryside has been divided into numerous districts, based on everything from soil type, landuse, tourist features, history, etc., so their distinctions are sometimes difficult to understand. This book contains dozens of short essays, one per area, and most of the essays are very interesting.

However, I found the book as a whole extremely difficult to use because there is no coordination between the maps at each end of the book, showing and numbering each land use area, and the text or the smaller detailed maps included with each short essay. Those essays, with area maps for each, are impossible to relate to other areas of the country using the end-page maps. It is very frustrating to try to find specific areas of interest to the reader, and then to further find adjacent areas, or similar areas of interest.

The essays are interesting as discreet little descriptions of an area in England, but as a whole, I find the book just a series of essays. The index is sketchy; so many, many towns mentioned in the essays, or of independent interest to the reader, aren't in the index. And, believe it or not, with the detailed maps containing numbered areas, in front and back, absolutely no use is made of those numbers in the essays, either in the text or individuals maps! So when you read an essay that interests the reader, you can't find that area in the end-paper maps, so you can't relate essays to the larger, overall picture of England.

And, if for further example, you read of an area, and you want to read about a neighboring area, there is no way to look up anything and just turn to it. All you can do is start thumbing through the whole book, or keep reading at length, hoping you can put together areas of interest on your own.

This book needs a considerably better index, and the absence of a relationship between the individual essays and the larger maps showing numbered areas is an astounding failure. Some editor did a terrible job of making this book readable and useable in relationship to an interest in England.

I have detailed AA maps of English roads and attractions, and even with those, this book was difficult to use in relationship to actual places to visit.

I found the book terribly uncoordinated, and the relationship between the maps and essays, and the overall maps of England, is non-existent.

That said, the individual essays are interesting, and there are numerous good photos of places, but it is nearly impossible to relate individual efforts to the whole.

With this book, I keep thinking of those old, hackneyed phrases: "close, but no cigar," "so near, yet so far," etc., but they are quite apt in this case. A better index and some use of the areas numbered in the maps of England with each essay would have turned this book into a winner. It just doesn't make it.

For a good writer, even a weak premise can be turned into a decent story, but not in this case. Which is too bad since Card is a good writer. The biggest annoyance though, is the dialog. On the one hand, it's a supposed to be a conspiracy/political thriller, but then the characters speak and it feels like the story should have been accompanied by a sitcom laugh-track. I had to force myself to finish this book and if I could, I would give it a half-star rating at best.

Well written with interesting characters that have good depth.
Very fast paced with surprising plot twists.
A good, fun read.

Card can do much better than this book. The story's flow was herky-jerky. There were some characters on the way to being very developed who just disappeared and other non-developed characters that came out of nowhere to play a major role in the story.

Nonetheless, Empire is still a page turner and I'd recommend it as light reading if you cannot get enough OSC after reading his better stuff - The Maker and Ender Series ...

Thought this book might be good. Great subject matter, great author. It just wasnt that good.
I think OSC is jumping on the Tom Clancy/Dale Brown bandwagon and just cranking out terrorist stories- the kind you buy at the airport to pass the time on the plane ride. Maybe he needs the cash or is trying to get out of his contract.

Paperbacks are expensive these days - buy something else.

I gave in to my weakness for political rhetoric -- probably because it's been more than half a year since I was last on a political debating site -- and bought Empire, by Orson Scott Card, when we were getting a buy-two-get-one deal. So the interesting part is that it's Orson Scott Card, whose writing I like very much -- Alvin Maker and Ender are two of my favorite series -- and the downside is, this book makes it seem that OSC is a die-hard conservative, who believes Bush has done great things for our country by making our military strong again and using our might to combat the deadly threat of Islamic terrorism, despite the whining of European intellectuals who don't admit how lucky they are that we are around to save their butts, and despite the treasonous actions of liberals here in the US, whose opposition to the war has done great harm to our mighty and courageous troops.

Reading Empire was like that from start to finish. I still like Card's writing, especially the way he does action scenes; one of the more exciting writers I know. I like the characters he creates (for the most part) and I like the way he leaves endings open while still wrapping up the main storyline. But criminy, did I get sick of reading right-wing propaganda about how worthless and vile and stupid all liberals are, how nobody who has any brains or balls would ever support the left. He tried to disavow any allegiance to either side of the divide in his Author's Note, claiming that the greatest threat to America is the extremists on either side, particularly the rhetoric that both sides use to castigate each other, but it was tough to swallow his serene distance after reading all the mud he slung at liberals. It's pretty clear that he saw this book as an opportunity to get some payback on what he sees as the liberal media's domination of spin in this country (This despite some nods in the book to Fox as the preferred news outlet for the men of the armed forces, a seemingly neutral comment except for the fact that everyone in this book falls into two categories: rightwing conservative military men, and scum. He also makes Bill O'Reilly look fair and balanced [He has a Fox executive say that in all earnestness, by the by] and like a reasonable man who's just looking to broadcast the truth in order to serve his fellow man.) and that's exactly what he tries to do.

In terms of the plot, it would be reasonable except for one thing: in this world, liberals start an armed insurrection in the US, asking the state legislatures to disavow the government in Washington and join with the Progressive movement to remove the evil President Bush. This is never going to happen, regardless of conservative paranoia and the hurt feelings of right-wingers who are sick of hearing that they are the ones who are dangerous to the country and not the Left. I hate to say it, boys, but it's true: I could see the Left taking over the government through elections, and maybe even going too far towards despotism/oligarchy once they were duly elected, but there's no way that the liberals of this country will ever start the fight. If anyone is going to start a revolution, it's going to be the right wing, or at best the Libertarians et al, assuming we are not meant to see them as conservative, per se. But it ain't ever going to be people like me and my family who break out the guns. We're too whiny and cowardly, remember?

I did realize, after reading this book, that Orson Scott Card apparently subscribes to Ayn Rand's philosophy of human perfection, that a man with sufficient talent and ambition can become so perfect in every way that not only can that person make the entire world dance to his tune, but we should be glad to do so. The war in this book is apparently fomented single-handedly by the true hero, the unparalleled genius who seeks to take over the US in order to begin the movement away from the American Republic and towards the American Empire, exactly as the Romans did. And though it seems that this may be an evil thing to do, it's also fairly clear that Card is rooting for this, as the apparent hero has great admiration for the magnificence of the Great Man who would become Augustus (that's what the hero calls the Great Man, because we don't believe in subtlety here), and since the apparent hero is such a magnificent person in every possible way -- fit, brilliant, honorable, heroic, virile, and the perfect friend, father, husband, and team leader -- the person that he admires? Surely that man must be like unto a GOD! Even if he is trying to become a despot, dammit, that's the kind of despotism that would make America the greatest country in the world! Oh, if only we had a perfect tyrant to take over and make everything good again!

Alas.

I love reading Bill Bryson - all his travel books are infused with a wicked wit and are quite informative as well. I don't know if this is the same Bill Bryson or it's his son or someone entirely different. Whomever "wrote" this book, compiled is more like it, didn't do the world any favors. This book is nothing more than a compilation of weird news stories, many involving violence (i.e. shooting of some sort) and sexual innuendo. If that's your thing, you'll love this book... I wish I could have given it a zero star rating.

I will admit that some of the stories in this book are over the top and really hard to believe, but it does have great entertainment value. I don't understand why someone would think the stories had sexual innuendo. The stories are totally strange, and yes some have violence, but not anymore violent than many of the stories you might read in any US newspaper today. Do yourself a favor and get the book if you enjoy strange stories. I liked it.

Bill Bryson's book MOTHER TONGUE has an admirable goal, to present the evolution and current state of the English language in a simple and intriguing fashion. However, it is a book full of factual errors. On nearly every page this is an urban myth, folk etymology, or misunderstanding of linguistics.

Bryson writes charming travelogues - THE LOST CONTINENT is a book I'd recommend to any foreigner wanting to learn about rural America - but he is an amateur with an interest in wordplay and not a professional linguist. Much of the book appears to have been thrown together from older books on language for the popular reader, especially those of Otto Jespersen, Mario Pei, and Montagu, which themselves have been criticised for errors and oversimplications.

The errors of the book astound from the start any reader with the slighest knowledge of language. Bryson speaks of the Eskimos having a multitude of words for snow, though this urban myth causes linguists to shudder and has been soundly debunked in THE GREAT ESKIMO VOCABULARY HOAX. Bryson goes on to say that Russian has no words for "efficiency", "engagement ring", or "have fun", a preposterous statement that can be proved wrong by any Russian speaker. His knowledge of British history is also shaky, as he asserts that the Saxon invaders eliminated entirely the former Celtic inhabitants, but in reality they merely imposed their language and Britons now remain essentially the same people genetically as 4,000 years ago.

Every reader who speaks another language besides English will find a most annoying mistake in THE MOTHER TONGUE. For me, once a speaker of Esperanto, it was Bryson's ridiculous summary of the language. He begans by mispelling the name of the language's initiator. Then he asserts that the language has no definite articles - it does - but then gives a sample of the language in which this definite article he just denied is used twiced (and mispelled once).

These are only a few examples, the book is filled with multitudes more.

While the birth and growth of the English language is a fascinating subject, it's a shame that it is spoiled in MOTHER TONGUE by an abundance of errors. If you are interested about how English got the way it is today, I'd recommend trying another book, one preferably written by someone with a degree in linguistics.

This book contains more than you expect. Bill Bryson covers language its self with a focus on English. The book covers speech from a historical view, a physical view, an environmental view, a utilitarian view, and many other views. If you find the tape version, you will want to play the tape over again as it cruses through many concepts that leave you thinking and speculating how it could have all gone differently.
A highlight for me (aside from his dirty word list) was the recognition that we try to impose Old Latin syntaxes on Modern English and it can get redicules.
My only disappointment comes when he mentions things I have already read and gets it wrong or off the mark. You have to worry a little about what you do not know and if to trust him. Still it is a fun book.
The advantage of the tape is that you actually hear the pronunciations. When it is a matter of spelling the reader will spell it out for you. Also the reader has the ability to change accents to fit the dialect samples.
The disadvantage is when you want to turn back to a particular page for cross-reference; there is no page to turn. So I would be smart to own both versions.

This book contains more than you expect. Bill Bryson covers language its self with a focus on English. The book covers speech from a historical view, a physical view, an environmental view, a utilitarian view, and many other views. If you find the tape version, you will want to play the tape over again as it cruses through many concepts that leave you thinking and speculating how it could have all gone differently.
A highlight for me (aside from his dirty word list) was the recognition that we try to impose Old Latin syntaxes on Modern English and it can get redicules.
My only disappointment comes when he mentions things I have already read and gets it wrong or off the mark. You have to worry a little about what you do not know and if to trust him. Still it is a fun book.
The advantage of the tape is that you actually hear the pronunciations. When it is a matter of spelling the reader will spell it out for you. Also the reader has the ability to change accents to fit the dialect samples.
The disadvantage is when you want to turn back to a particular page for cross-reference; there is no page to turn. So I would be smart to own both versions.

Bill Bryson's book MOTHER TONGUE has an admirable goal, to present the evolution and current state of the English language in a simple and intriguing fashion. However, it is a book full of factual errors. On nearly every page this is an urban myth, folk etymology, or misunderstanding of linguistics.

Bryson writes charming travelogues - THE LOST CONTINENT is a book I'd recommend to any foreigner wanting to learn about rural America - but he is an amateur with an interest in wordplay and not a professional linguist. Much of the book appears to have been thrown together from older books on language for the popular reader, especially those of Otto Jespersen, Mario Pei, and Montagu, which themselves have been criticized for errors and oversimplications.

The errors of the book astound from the start any reader with the slightest knowledge of language. Bryson speaks of the Eskimos having a multitude of words for snow, though this urban myth causes linguists to shudder and has been soundly debunked in THE GREAT ESKIMO VOCABULARY HOAX. Bryson goes on to say that Russian has no words for "efficiency", "engagement ring", or "have fun", a preposterous statement that can be proved wrong by any Russian speaker. His knowledge of British history is also shaky, as he asserts that the Saxon invaders eliminated entirely the former Celtic inhabitants, but in reality they merely imposed their language and Britons now remain essentially the same people genetically as 4,000 years ago.

Every reader who speaks another language besides English will find a most annoying mistake in THE MOTHER TONGUE. For me, once a speaker of Esperanto, it was Bryson's ridiculous summary of the language. He begins by misspelling the name of the language's initiator. Then he asserts that the language has no definite articles - it does - but then gives a sample of the language in which this definite article he just denied is used twice (and misspelled once).

These are only a few examples, the book is filled with multitudes more.

While the birth and growth of the English language is a fascinating subject, it's a shame that it is spoiled in MOTHER TONGUE by an abundance of errors. If you are interested about how English got the way it is today, I'd recommend trying another book, one preferably written by someone with a degree in linguistics.

Bill Bryson's book MOTHER TONGUE has an admirable goal, to present the evolution and current state of the English language in a simple and intriguing fashion. However, it is a book full of factual errors. On nearly every page this is an urban myth, folk etymology, or misunderstanding of linguistics.

Bryson writes charming travelogues - THE LOST CONTINENT is a book I'd recommend to any foreigner wanting to learn about rural America - but he is an amateur with an interest in wordplay and not a professional linguist. Much of the book appears to have been thrown together from older books on language for the popular reader, especially those of Otto Jespersen, Mario Pei, and Montagu, which themselves have been criticized for errors and oversimplications.

The errors of the book astound from the start any reader with the slightest knowledge of language. Bryson speaks of the Eskimos having a multitude of words for snow, though this urban myth causes linguists to shudder and has been soundly debunked in THE GREAT ESKIMO VOCABULARY HOAX. Bryson goes on to say that Russian has no words for "efficiency", "engagement ring", or "have fun", a preposterous statement that can be proved wrong by any Russian speaker. His knowledge of British history is also shaky, as he asserts that the Saxon invaders eliminated entirely the former Celtic inhabitants, but in reality they merely imposed their language and Britons now remain essentially the same people genetically as 4,000 years ago.

Every reader who speaks another language besides English will find a most annoying mistake in THE MOTHER TONGUE. For me, once a speaker of Esperanto, it was Bryson's ridiculous summary of the language. He begins by misspelling the name of the language's initiator. Then he asserts that the language has no definite articles - it does - but then gives a sample of the language in which this definite article he just denied is used twice (and misspelled once).

These are only a few examples, the book is filled with multitudes more.

While the birth and growth of the English language is a fascinating subject, it's a shame that it is spoiled in MOTHER TONGUE by an abundance of errors. If you are interested about how English got the way it is today, I'd recommend trying another book, one preferably written by someone with a degree in linguistics.

Bill Bryson's book MOTHER TONGUE has an admirable goal, to present the evolution and current state of the English language in a simple and intriguing fashion. However, it is a book full of factual errors. On nearly every page this is an urban myth, folk etymology, or misunderstanding of linguistics.

Bryson writes charming travelogues - THE LOST CONTINENT is a book I'd recommend to any foreigner wanting to learn about rural America - but he is an amateur with an interest in wordplay and not a professional linguist. Much of the book appears to have been thrown together from older books on language for the popular reader, especially those of Otto Jespersen, Mario Pei, and Montagu, which themselves have been criticized for errors and oversimplications.

The errors of the book astound from the start any reader with the slightest knowledge of language. Bryson speaks of the Eskimos having a multitude of words for snow, though this urban myth causes linguists to shudder and has been soundly debunked in THE GREAT ESKIMO VOCABULARY HOAX. Bryson goes on to say that Russian has no words for "efficiency", "engagement ring", or "have fun", a preposterous statement that can be proved wrong by any Russian speaker. His knowledge of British history is also shaky, as he asserts that the Saxon invaders eliminated entirely the former Celtic inhabitants, but in reality they merely imposed their language and Britons now remain essentially the same people genetically as 4,000 years ago.

Every reader who speaks another language besides English will find a most annoying mistake in THE MOTHER TONGUE. For me, once a speaker of Esperanto, it was Bryson's ridiculous summary of the language. He begins by misspelling the name of the language's initiator. Then he asserts that the language has no definite articles - it does - but then gives a sample of the language in which this definite article he just denied is used twice (and misspelled once).

These are only a few examples, the book is filled with multitudes more.

While the birth and growth of the English language is a fascinating subject, it's a shame that it is spoiled in MOTHER TONGUE by an abundance of errors. If you are interested about how English got the way it is today, I'd recommend trying another book, one preferably written by someone with a degree in linguistics.

Bill Bryson's book MOTHER TONGUE has an admirable goal, to present the evolution and current state of the English language in a simple and intriguing fashion. However, it is a book full of factual errors. On nearly every page this is an urban myth, folk etymology, or misunderstanding of linguistics.

Bryson writes charming travelogues - THE LOST CONTINENT is a book I'd recommend to any foreigner wanting to learn about rural America - but he is an amateur with an interest in wordplay and not a professional linguist. Much of the book appears to have been thrown together from older books on language for the popular reader, especially those of Otto Jespersen, Mario Pei, and Montagu, which themselves have been criticized for errors and oversimplications.

The errors of the book astound from the start any reader with the slightest knowledge of language. Bryson speaks of the Eskimos having a multitude of words for snow, though this urban myth causes linguists to shudder and has been soundly debunked in THE GREAT ESKIMO VOCABULARY HOAX. Bryson goes on to say that Russian has no words for "efficiency", "engagement ring", or "have fun", a preposterous statement that can be proved wrong by any Russian speaker. His knowledge of British history is also shaky, as he asserts that the Saxon invaders eliminated entirely the former Celtic inhabitants, but in reality they merely imposed their language and Britons now remain essentially the same people genetically as 4,000 years ago.

Every reader who speaks another language besides English will find a most annoying mistake in THE MOTHER TONGUE. For me, once a speaker of Esperanto, it was Bryson's ridiculous summary of the language. He begins by misspelling the name of the language's initiator. Then he asserts that the language has no definite articles - it does - but then gives a sample of the language in which this definite article he just denied is used twice (and misspelled once).

These are only a few examples, the book is filled with multitudes more.

While the birth and growth of the English language is a fascinating subject, it's a shame that it is spoiled in MOTHER TONGUE by an abundance of errors. If you are interested about how English got the way it is today, I'd recommend trying another book, one preferably written by someone with a degree in linguistics.