About the Author

William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, FRSBill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. He settled in England in 1977, and worked in journalism until he became a full time writer. He lived for many years with his English wife and four children in North Yorkshire. He and his family then moved to New Hampshire in America for a few years, but they have now returned to live in the UK. In , Bill Bryson's hilarious first travel book, he chronicled a trip in his mother's Chevy around small town America. It was followed by , an account of his first trip around Europe. Other travel books include the massive bestseller , which won the 2003 World Book Day National Poll to find the book which best represented modern England, followed by (in which Stephen Katz, his travel companion from , made a welcome reappearance) , and Bill Bryson has also written several highly praised books on the English language, including and . In his last book, he turned his attention to science. was lauded with critical acclaim, and became a huge bestseller. It was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, before going on to win the Aventis Prize for Science Books and the Descartes Science Communication Prize. His next book, , is a memoir of growing up in 1950s America, featuring another appearance from his old friend Stephen Katz. October 8 sees the publication of

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