''Notes from a Small Island'' is a humorous travel book on Great Britain by American author

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson ( ; born 8 December 1951) is an American-British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has be ...

, first published in 1995.

Overview

Bryson wrote ''Notes from a Small Island'' when he decided to move back to his native United States, but wanted 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 as far afield as

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

in the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

John o' Groats John o' Groats () is a village 2.5 mi (4 km) north-east of Canisbay, in the historic county of Caithness, Scotland. It lies on Scotland's north-eastern tip and is popular with tourists. The northernmost point of mainland Scotland is ...

at the north-eastern tip of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

's mainland. During this trip he insisted on using only public transport, but failed on two occasions: in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

and on the journey to John o' Groats he had to rent a car. He also re-visits Virginia Water where he worked at the Holloway Sanatorium when he first came to Britain in 1973. (He met his future wife while employed at Holloway.) On his way, Bryson provides historical information on the places he visits, and expresses amazement at the heritage in Britain, stating that there were 445,000 listed historical buildings, 12,000 medieval churches, of common land, of footpaths and public rights-of-way, 600,000 known sites of archaeological interest and that in his

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

village at that time, there were more 17th century buildings than in the whole of North America. Bryson also pays homage to the humble self-effacing fortitude of British people under trying times, such as the

world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s and

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, as well as the various peculiarities of Britain and

British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...

(such as not understanding, on his first arrival, what a counterpane was, and assuming it was something to do with a window. It is a British English word that means quilt.) Bryson also recalls first going into an English tobacconist's and hearing the man in front of him ask for "Twenty Number 6", and assuming that everything in Britain was ordered by number. (A popular brand at the time was ''Players No. 6'', and in British English it is usual to ask for 'twenty' (cigarettes), meaning a packet of them.)

Reception

In an opinion poll organised for

World Book Day World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright ...

in 2003, ''Notes from a Small Island'' was voted by

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

listeners as the book which best represented England. The book was adapted for

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Tele ...

in 1998 and appeared as a six-part 30-minute documentary broadcast on ITV from 10 January to 14 February 1999. The book is also available in audio book format. Heavily abridged, the book was read in five fifteen-minute episodes by

Kerry Shale Kerry Shale (born 4 June 1952) is a Canadian actor based in London, England. His BBC Radio 4 comedy-drama ''The Kubrick Test'' was broadcast in 2020. He is the co-host of ''Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan'', a podcast about Bob Dylan ...

for

. It has been repeated on

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

several times. Bryson praises the city of Durham in the book. He later became Chancellor of

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

from 2005 to 2011. The title of Briton Neil Humphreys' book ''Notes from an Even Smaller Island'' (written on his experiences in the former

Crown Colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

) is a reference to Bryson's book, Humphreys stating in 2012, "When I read Bill Bryson's travel books, I was inspired to do something similar in Asia (some might say rip him off! Luckily, Bill Bryson doesn't say that!)".Interview with Neil Humphreys
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References

{{Bill Bryson Books by Bill Bryson Books about the United Kingdom 1995 books HarperCollins books Travel books