One Summer
America 1927
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Transworld Publishers Ltd
Published:22nd May '14
Should be back in stock very soon
Let our favourite writer of narrative non-fiction take you back to a summer when America came of age and changed the world for ever.
In summer 1927, America had a booming stock market, a president who worked just four hours a day (and slept much of the rest), a devastating flood of the Mississippi, a sensational murder trial, and an unknown aviator named Charles Lindbergh who became the most famous man on earth.
In summer 1927, America had a booming stock market, a president who worked just four hours a day (and slept much of the rest), a devastating flood of the Mississippi, a sensational murder trial, and an unknown aviator named Charles Lindbergh who became the most famous man on earth.
It was the summer that saw the birth of talking pictures, the invention of television, the peak of Al Capone’s reign of terror, the horrifying bombing of a school in Michigan, the thrillingly improbable return to greatness of over-the-hill baseball player Babe Ruth, and an almost impossible amount more.
In this hugely entertaining book, Bill Bryson spins a tale of brawling adventure, reckless optimism and delirious energy. With the trademark brio, wit and authority that make him Britain’s favourite writer of narrative non-fiction, he brings to life a forgotten summer when America came of age, took centre stage, and changed the world.
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 *
ISBN: 9780552772563
Dimensions: 197mm x 128mm x 42mm
Weight: 478g
672 pages