Notes from a Small Island
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| Notes from a Small Island | |
 Notes From A Small Island cover |
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| Author | Bill Bryson |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date | 1995 |
| ISBN | 0-552-99600-9 |
Notes from a Small Island is a travel book by Bill Bryson. It was written when the author was due to move back to his native United States but decided to take one final trip around Great Britain, which had been his home for over twenty years. Bryson covers all corners of the island observing and talking to people from Land's End (the southwest) to John O'Groats (the north-eastern Scottish tip), to London. During this trip the writer attempts to only use public transport, with the exception of the section near Stonehenge when he gets a hire car, and at Thurso when he gets a hire car to John O'Groats because there were no buses at the time of year that he was visiting
In it, Bryson expressed amazement at the heritage in Britain, stating that there are (or were at the time of writing) 445,000 listed buildings, 12,000 medieval churches, 1,500,000 acres (6,000 km²) of common land, 120,000 miles (190,000 km) of footpaths, and public rights-of-way, 600,000 known sites of archaeological interest and that in his Yorkshire village at that time, there were more 17th-century buildings than in the whole of North America. He reflects on the humble self-effacing fortitude of British people under trying times such as the World Wars and Great Depression.
In a 2003 Poll, it was voted by English people as the book which best represented England.[1]
The book was adapted for Carlton Television in 1998 and appeared as a six-part 30-minute documentary broadcast on ITV from January to February 1999.
[edit] References
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- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2824715.stm BBC reports 2003 poll.
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