One Summer

Bill Bryson is a true master of popular narrative. Over the course of his career, he has bestowed a beautiful clarity on even the most recondite of subjects…Has history ever been so enjoyable? – Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *A fascinating snapshot of a season during which America, for better or worse, ushered in the modern world. * Sunday Times *A gifted raconteur…The book is filled with eccentric, flamboyant characters and memorable stories…highly amusing. * Guardian *A great new form of literature: biography of a few months in one country. – Matt Ridley * The Times (Books of the Year) *Few writers of nonfiction, and,let’s be honest,few enough writers of novels, can crack the narrative whip like Bryson. One Summer fairly whirls along…full of exhilarating, fact-filled fun…surely the most sublime distraction published this year. * Observer *Bryson is a master of the sidelong, a man who can turn obscurity into hilarity with seemingly effortless charm - and One Summer: America 1927 is an entertaining addition to a body of work that is at its best when it celebrates the unexpected and the obscure…a jolly jalopy ride of a book; Bryson runs down the byways of American history and finds diversion in every roadside stop. – Erica Wagner * Financial Times *A wonderful book on a pivotal year, in which the gravitational pull of the world shifted from Europe to America. * Mail on Sunday *Has captured the zeitgeist of the Roaring Twenties in this entertaining and informative book. * Washington Post *This splendid book, written in the breezy and humorous style that has come to be Bryson’s trademark, is sure to delight. * Huffington Post *Another winner…witty and engrossing. * Irish Independent *

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. His bestselling books include The Road to Little Dribbling, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, One Summer and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. In a national poll, Notes from a Small Island was voted the book that best represents Britain. His acclaimed work of popular science, A Short History of Nearly Everything, won the Aventis Prize and the Descartes Prize, and was the biggest selling non-fiction book of its decade in the UK. His new book The Body- A Guide for Occupants is an extraordinary exploration of the human body which will have you marvelling at the form you occupy. Bill Bryson was Chancellor of Durham University 2005-2011. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society. He lives in England.