At Home: A Short History of Private Life

"Houses are not historical havens. They are the last stop on history.

Bill Bryson lives with his family in a Victorian parsonage in an area of England where there hasn't been any major events since the Roman retreat. However, one day he started to realize how little he really understood about the everyday aspects of living in that cozy house. In order to address this, he came up with the plan to "write a history of the world without leaving home" by moving about his home from room to room. The bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nourishment, and the spice trade; and so on, as Bryson demonstrates how each has played a role in the development of private life. The bathroom offers an opportunity to discuss the history of cleanliness. He shows how everything that occurs in the outside world finds its way into our home, finding its way into the paint, the pipes, the cushions, and every piece of furniture.

(front cover)