A history of why the world is like it is

This is a book with an astonishingly wide scope which it covers admirably. Never during its 19 hours was I bored and it remains accessible throughout. It's packed full of things you never even knew that you didn't know!

The fact that it's described as a history may suggest that it's all about things that happened in the past and indeed much of the book does cover events from Big Bang through to recent history. But in covering such history it also explains much about how the world is today.

This is a fascinating book that will interest a wide range of people. You don't need to be an expert historian or scientist to understand and enjoy this book. I'd definitely highly recommend it.

A word about the narration also - I've listened to a number of Bill Bryson books narrated by William Roberts and he is always an excellent narrator. The way he narrates the book just adds to what is already an excellent book and ensures that one's interest is not lost for a second.

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22 people found this helpful

Entertaining

I've enjoyed a number of Bill Bryson books and found this book generally entertaining. It's the kind of book I usually relish with lots of interesting facts and figures. I thought the first third of the book about cosmology worthy of 5 stars, but I got a bit glassy-eyed with the stream of facts and figures in the middle of the book dealing with taxonomy, which even I found less than riveting. Most of the physics and chemistry was familiar to me, but not the biographical stories about the scientists who made the discoveries with their revealing and all too human foibles. Surprisingly, I found the parts dealing with my field of expertise, biochemistry and molecular biology, some of the least inspiring and sketchy such that I think many wouldn't get just how exciting it can be. The last third or so of the book about the evolution of humans was again worthy of 5 stars.

There are some gaps in what he included, for example, mathematics, the basis of so much in science, was barely touched on and one would get the impression that only scientists in the West made all the discoveries, whereas we now know that many were already made in China and India, to name but two Eastern Civilizations.

I've see other reviews that have been critical and pointed out errors in the narrative. I detected a few, but generally thought, that for a layman, Bryson did a very good job of covering an enormous sweep of science and making it entertaining.

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9 people found this helpful

Accents...

I loved this book and the narration was great with the exception of the narrator speaking some quotes in the presumed accent of the speaker, particularly the Australian academics. Why?! This was distracting and seemed such a caricature as to be a bit offensive at times!

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1 person found this helpful

Love the book, hate the narrator

I love listening to Bill Bryson and like science books, so this seemed ideal but I found the narrator so annoying I eventually give up. His voice is quite high pitched and just a bit manic and as it is a long book I couldn't cope with it. I have all the Bryson audiobooks read by the author, (except the abridged version of this one) but a number of them are read by this narrator and I am not buying any more.

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1 person found this helpful

great but take with a pinch of salt

very good but had often had me wondering how he can possibly know some of the things he says. Also a shame that's it's made in the early 2000s, I think 2004. I hope there is a second edition or something to update some of the facts/statements

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Absolutely fascinating

What a wealth of interesting information presented in very easy to listen to and understand format.

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amazing

wow, I will definitely have to listen again as it's a pretty complex book. Saying this though, it's still very accessible. I particularly loved the relatable analogies of size and time. FASCINATING

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Simply the best book I've ever read and heard.

It's life summarized.

I read the soft cover 9 years ago, and now decided to relive the awesomeness by listening to the audio ook while doing the daily commute. 9 years ago I believed it was simply the best book I've ever read, I still feel the same now once I finished this audio again.

Bill has a great way of writing, he tells his story in his own way, its an adventure as he guides you factually and lays all his findings on the table. He is definitely one of my favourite writers of our age.

If you have smart friends, or friends who think they are smart or even friends who aren't smart but would like to be I'd highly recommend it. It simply is about everything - life summarised.

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Great second time around

I read this book when it first came out (early 2000s) and lived it then. Second time around it was just as good. Packed with facts and history I just wish I could remember them all!!

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My first book!

One of the best decisions I have taken to subscribe and buy this book. It made me fall in love with its story telling and how informative it is. Highly recommended for any one.
It truly makes you appreciate the discoveries and the standard of life we have achieved

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