Notes From a Small Island By Bill Bryson Reviewed by Steve Rudd

Good old Bill is a natural comedian and never holds back when it comes to being honest. He's one of the world's best-loved and most famous travel writers, and this volume of 'notes' is exclusively concerned with a number of weeks that Bill spent investing in the art of travelling around Britain back in the mid 90's. His travel writing talents first came to prominence when he released his Lost Continent book back in 1989 (following his extensively rambling travels around his native country, the vast United States of America), which was followed by the equally as popular Neither Here Nor There which focused on time he spent gadding about the fair continent of Europe on multiple whims and prayers.

Bill moved over to England to work and live in the late Seventies, and his Notes From A Small Island actually represent a reflection on his time spent over here, for just after he released this book he and his family moved back across to the States. Just like Michael Palin, the bearded and bespectacled Bill Bryson can be both serious and funny in one hugely effective fell swoop. He is a fiercely intelligent man who incorporates a great deal of fascinating historical insights into the people and places he encounters, as well as his trademark wit and sarcasm.

Somewhat methodically starting out from Dover, he heads for London and along the south coast to Bournemouth before heading north to Chepstow. From there, all the while traversing the country via public transport, he indulges in the dubious delights of Oxford, prior to heading into Wales and the beautiful Snowdonia area in particular... a fantastic corner of the British Isles indeed.

Bill also heads right up the East coast and takes in Durham, Edinburgh and Inverness before hitting the bleak outpost of John O' Groats, when Bill concludes that there really isn't very much to see at all there. On the final stretch of his journey he heads back South through Glasgow, to Carlisle, and from there on the infamous cross-Dales railway line of visual grandeur to Settle, all the way back to his home (at the time) in Malhamdale. As well as visiting some of the major cities and tourist attractions of the UK along the way, he also visits a number of lesser-visited places such as Port Sunlight: an old model community built for 'soap workers' near Liverpool.

Another highlight of the trip, at least in Bill's mind, is seeing the made-for-the-big-screen movie This Is Cinerama which he gets to see at Bradford's IMAX establishment.

All in all, these notes from a small island make for genuinely fascinating and enthralling reading that should hopefully make you - should you be resident in Britain - even more motivated to get out there yourself to explore and learn more about this fine land. Just a few years after this book was published, Bill jubilantly bounced back with Notes From A Big Country. By this time he was living back in the States, and boy did it show... ISBN 0-385-40534-0 (published in 1995 by Doubleday) www.randomhouse.com/features/billbryson

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