File:Neil_MacGregor,_Bill_Bryson,_Claire_Walker,_Huw_Edwards_(28449155987)_(Bryson_cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Bill Bryson
Sign in to saveAlso known as William Bryson, William "Bill" McGuire Bryson, William McGuire Bryson
American-British author (born 1951)
OverviewAI-generated
Bill Bryson, born William McGuire Bryson on December 8, 1951, in Des Moines, is an American journalist, travel writer, autobiographer, and science communicator. He began his work period in 1985 and is educated at Drake University. Bryson writes in English and is recognized for his contributions to non-fiction literature, popular science literature, and travel books.
His notable works include *A Short History of Nearly Everything* and *A Walk in the Woods*. He has received the award of Officer of the Order of the British Empire and an honorary doctorate. Additionally, he is a member of the Royal Society.
Synthesized by Vinony from 28 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Firecrawl, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 8 December 1951
- Works
- 74
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Vice chancellor
- Kenneth Calman Chris Higgins
- Preceded by
- Peter Ustinov
- Succeeded by
- Thomas Allen
- Born
- William McGuire Bryson , ( 1951-12-08 ) 8 December 1951 (age 74) , Des Moines, Iowa , U.S.
- Citizenship
- United States, United Kingdom
- Spouse
- Cynthia Billen ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1975 )
- Alma mater
- Drake University ( BA )
via Wikipedia infobox
Official website
Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. He is the author of eighteen books and holds the record of having the most bestsellers of any author on the Sunday Times bestseller list in the last fifty years. A Short History of Nearly Everything, first published in 2003, spent 106 weeks in the chart, won both the Aventis Prize and the Descartes Prize and is the biggest-selling popular science book of the twenty-first century. Bill Bryson is a former Chancellor of Durham University and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society. He lives in England.
penguin.co.uk →Link to the official site · 10,285 chars · not written by Vinony
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- William
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Des Moines
- Occupation
- writer
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Award
- honorary doctorate
- Notable work
- A Walk in the Woods
- Field of work
- journalism
- Genre
- travel literature
- Official website
- www.penguin.co.uk/authors/101/1017933/bill-bryson.html
- Image
- Bill Bryson (28449155987) (Bryson cropped) (cropped).jpg
Show 9 more facts
- Commons category
- Bill Bryson
- date of birth
- 1951-12-08
- birth name
- William McGuire Bryson
- member of
- Royal Society
- Commons gallery
- Bill Bryson
- name in native language
- Bill Bryson
- start of work period
- 1985-00-00
- social media followers
- 12837
- pseudonym
- Bill Bryson
via Wikidata · CC0
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
William McGuire Bryson (/ˈbraɪsən/ BRYE-sən; born 8 December 1951) is an American-British journalist and author. Bryson has written nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has resided in Britain for most of his adult life, returning to the U.S. between 1995 and 2003, and holds dual American and British citizenship. He was the chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011.
In 1995, while in the United Kingdom, Bryson wrote Notes from a Small Island, an exploration of Britain. In 2003, he authored A Short History of Nearly Everything. In October 2020, he announced that he had retired from writing books. He has sold over 16 million books worldwide. He recorded an audiobook for Audible, The Secret History of Christmas, in 2022.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Bill Bryson” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.