Bill Bryson's Shakespeare

Karen Robinson had good things to say about Bill Bryson’s Shakespeare which she recently reviewed as The Sunday Times Audio Book of the Week. She said:

“Do we really need another book about Shakespeare? Well, probably not, but Bryson's cheerfully light touch with the results of his research (such as the notion that, had Shakespeare's father not relocated to Stratford upon Avon, he might have been known as the Bard of Snooterfield) makes this a joy to listen to. Scrupulous about finding the verifiable facts of Shakespeare's life, he spends a lot of time politely having fun with centuries of unlikely theory and baseless supposition, and truly comes alive on his subject's amazing contributions to the language we still speak. Did you know he coined, inter alia, the expression “to back a horse”? In an interview at the end of this production, Bryson is almost breathless in his enthusiasm - listen to it first if you need inspiration.”

Bill Bryson is perennially popular at Audible so we were thrilled to add a new audio programme from him to the store this month. Journeys in English is Bryson’s highly entertaining BBC Radio 4 series which is based on his best-selling book Mother Tongue. In it, he romps through the history of Britain to reveal how English became such an infuriatingly complex - but ultimately world-beating - language.