An epic story of the history of the universe, starting from the beginning of the clock. This fascinating story tells of the history of the universe as we know it, through the discoveries of the scientists who tell us, as best as we can know at this time, how we got to here we are, from the cosmic microwave background radiation, to the formation of the galaxies, stars, planets, and then the first life as it evolved all the way up to us.

An absolutely brilliant book for anyone who wants to learn who we are.

I read this book with a scant knowledge of nearly everything and at the end I was enlightened and entertained by Byson's excellent book. It really makes you think of not only how we got to be where we are today in, largely the world of science, but our very existence. When trying to comprehend the size of an atom the size of the universe, Bryson makes the old mind tick over and the great thing is that it is written so we can all understand the little things like particle physics and quantum mechanics!! Full of interesting characters too, a great read, thoroughly recommended for anyone!!

Bill Bryson's books are always a treat. His previous efforts have shown him to be a man of wit and consistency, and I've never encountered a book written by him that could be described as anything but thoroughly entertaining.

Bryson does not disappoint with A Short History.., taking readers on an oft hilarious and thought provoking jaunt through time. His explanations and insights are deep and interesting, and go well beyond the dry language of normal history books.

Any science book can tell you that we're made up of eleventy billion atoms, but Bryson manages to give these numbers some meaning. A great effort, and a great read.

Very entertaining book whilst being educational!
Bryson's sense of humour is always entertaining and makes what would seem boring information about history come to life!

A very amusing book, to say the least. And informative too! I love Bill Bryson's writing style - it is very engaging and encourages you to just read on. A nice, amusing, easy to read history of... well... nearly everything! I'd get this one if I were you, it is well worth the cashola.

Fantastic read. Its very easy to read and you get the feeling it's simply a comedy, (and a very good one) then find yourself spouting off odd facts you have learnt in the book. Highly recomended!!! A++++

I love this book... so easy to read and simple to understand. I think its an essential for anyone who didn't get a uni level science education, it covers a lot of the more interesting aspects of first year. I've read it roughly twice now (you could read from beginning to end, but you might as well just pick chapters at random) and a lot of the info still feels new a second time around.

This book I read shortly after reading Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of the Universe, and found the two books to be quite good companions. Known for his travel books, this I believe is Bryson's best work to date. His sums up everything and can put everything with such detail into a modest easily understood set of words. A very great book.

This book is so good I also purchased the illustrated version of it and kept both. Well written, often humerous Bryson literally takes us through an abreviated history of...well everything. Covering the beggining of universe through to modern times this book will suit everyone from science buffs to the physics impaired (me for instance).

Highly highly recommended. Buy the illustrated version as well...

I found this to be an excellent read. Bryson has an engaging style, and I enjoyed the trip though the life of our planet. In an easy to understand way he explains the world of quantum physics, evolution, plate tectonics and many more. Certainly a book worth having on the shelf at home.