Rating: 
Summary: I wish I could see this much humour in the world.
Review: Listen I laugh when people are honestly funny about every other place but my own, but I have never had the pleasure of reading anything so funny about my home. People like Bryson should be in power not politicians. I never understood this book to be about travel writing, nor any of his others. Just one of the most hilarious accounts of modern day British life I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It makes the reader want to travel to other countries just to understand the points of reference made within each sentence. Those who are blind to the world outside their window should read this, it may make stupid people think twice about criticizing others , god it may even prevent wars, if people learn to laugh with, as well as at each other. It was nice to lay in bed with my girlfriend and tell her all the cities I had visited today. It's amazing how far this book can let you travel in 24 hours. Thankyou for resurrecting a reading habit, oh and not so much thanks for making me admit to needing reading glasses Bryson they cost 140 pounds.Finally, it was nice that someone has chronicled British life before the European Union ruins it.
Rating:
Summary: Ace- please read!
Review: This book made me howl with laughter and paradoxically feel proud to be English again despite our imperialist past; Bill Bryson thinks we're OK and tells us why, despite our eccentricities. Wittily but humanely observed, it is an accurate picture of ho-hum Britain ( though I come from Ludlow and I think he's very unfair on the Ludlow & District Cats Protection League!)
Rating: 
Summary: Leave it on the shelf where it belongs
Review: This book has been in the best seller lists for a number of years and has had rave reviews. I was extremely disappointed in the book. I found very little humour and got irritated by Bryson complaining about architecture, transport, etc. This isn't a travelogue, just a sequence of towns visited with incidents on the way. As a Brit I didn't feel that it painted an accurate picture of the people or the place. I feel sure that there are better books that address the issues - leave this one on the shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Very funny indeed
Review: Not only is this book funny, but it was a gift too! On the whole I found the book very funny, and a compelling read. Coming from the North of England, I found some of the comments somewhat odd: in the north the trains have the destination by the door as your get on, as well as the front! Other than a few little regional differences, and some somewhat anachronistic comments, it's wondefully witty, and well worth reading!
Rating:
Summary: A Witty, Heart-warming Trip
Review: A must read for Anglophiles, but a book those who have been to Britain are likely to enjoy much more than someone visiting for the first time... Understanding that a "pot" of tea is only enough for one, that high tea is less formal than afternoon tea, and the very different connotation "excuse me" has when you accidentally bump into someone is difficult without having been there. If you are looking for something to guide you on your travels in England or give you insight into the daily lives of it's residents, this is not the book for you. However, if you want something to tuck away with your photos, Underground pass, green and gold Harrod's tea cozy and scone recipe, this is the book. Cheers, Mr. Bryson!
Rating:
Summary: Great book.
Review: This was the first Bryson book I'd ever read (i've now read them all) and I loved it. It was tears on your cheeks funny and turned me into an instant Anglophile. I re-read "Notes" at least once every couple months and it never fails to cheer me up and make me pine for a cup tea. I loved this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Short Story...
Review: ...but, sadly, not a novel. Bryson has moments of brillance. His observations are witty, and he is able to decribe the British culture like no other. But he needed a strong editor to make the tough decisions about what to leave out. Bryson made all of his points (and his most cogent observations) half way through the book. He did not need to continue to make the same observations over and over the rest of the way. Overall, I was disappointed. The book started with such promise in an English port city. His description of the B&B landlady was tearfully funny. Unfortunately, the book never got any better. Sometimes, Bill, less is more.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic. Side-splittingly funny.
Review: I came across this book a couple of years ago, and I still continue to sing its praises. It is one thing to read a maintream, informative guide-book on a particular country by a well-informed source, but quite another to have an American telling you things about your own homeland that are so hugely perceptive, yet so off the wall, that they make you collapse in a fit of embarassing laughter. After having lived in England for 20 years or so, the well-known journalist Bill Bryson took a trip across this small island, as a last farewell before his return to the States. He visited cathedrals, parks and small towns, with his tongue constantly in cheek. He experienced the English love of complaining, their inability to travel more than 50 miles - the distance Americans would travel "for a taco" - without having some major heart failure, and their curious love of that smelly brown vegetable extract known as Marmite. Bryson reminds the English just how amusing they are to the world outside, but nevertheless professes a deep affection for this beautiful country, an affection which is clearly apparent in much of his work. For those English who take for granted some of the ridiculous parts of their culture, and for anyone who wants to be entertained to the point of physical pain, this book is a definite must. It is a travel book unlike any other - excrutiatingly funny, highly informative and with a perceptive slant that makes you imagine Bryson sitting in a tea shop for hours on end, notebook in hand, quietly observing the amusing quirks of the passers-by. The perfect start to Bryson's tour of Europe, which continues with the Continental version, entitled "Neither here nor there."
Rating:
Summary: Great Britain distilled.
Review: Coming from the small island in question, I feel able to comment on Bill Bryson's travelogue and yes, yes, yes, I agree with every word. Bryson's dry deadpan humour sums up GB beautifully. This was my second Bryson book and my admiration for the man grew immensely. Read it, even if you've never been to GB. My only reservation is the very small section devoted to Scotland.
Rating:
Summary: Forget about travel guides
Review: I'm English, always have been, always will be. I hate unfair criticism of my country (in fact I don't even like fair criticism usually). So why do I love this book so much? It's because the criticism doesn't seem as such, more a statement of fact but done with humour and affection. I suspect that the British read the book and are suddenly made aware of our own strange traits, traits that have become transparent to us due to their sheer 'everdayness'. The non-British readers on the other hand probably have their perception of us reinforced by the book. Either way, I haven't read or seen anything else that made me feel so good about the place or laugh so much at our 'Former World Champions' attitude. It should be mandatory reading for town planners and town councillors, it should be read by tourists in preference to any so-called tourist guide, it should be read to young British children so they don't repeat the mistakes we made. In short it is an essential guide to Britishness (in fact Englishness as the book does feel rushed towards the Scottish ending). Read the book and see the country before the architects and planners demolish Stonehenge to make way for a Stonehenge-themed Burger restaurant serving McDruid Burgers.
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