One Summer
by Bill Bryson · first published 2013
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Narrative history of 1927, covering the people, events and culture of that summer in America. Written in a readable, anecdotal style suited to readers of popular history.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Let our favourite writer of narrative non-fiction take you back to a summer when America came of age and changed the world for ever. In summer 1927, America had a booming stock market, a president who worked just four hours a day (and slept much of the rest), a devastating flood of the Mississippi, a sensational murder trial, and an unknown aviator named Charles Lindbergh who became the most famous man on earth. It was the summer that saw the birth of talking pictures, the invention of television, the peak of Al Capone’s reign of terror, the horrifying bombing of a school in Michigan, th
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2010–2026At Home
Bill Bryson
Recommended by 12 · mentioned by 2212 recommend · 22 mention12 recommend · 2212 recommend
2009–2026The Dream Machine
M. Mitchell Waldrop
Recommended by 109 · mentioned by 131109 recommend · 131 mention109 recommend · 131109 recommend
2007–2026Masters of Doom
David Kushner
Recommended by 253 · mentioned by 365253 recommend · 365 mention253 recommend · 365253 recommend
Books this year that I loved: "A Place of Greater Safety" - Hilary Mantel [French Revolution - Danton, Robespierre, Desmoulins ...] "One Summer: America 1927" - Bill Bryson "Napoleon the Great" - Andrew Roberts "Seveneves" - Neal Stephenson Reading "The Box" at the moment which is pretty interesting.
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗I recently, by accident, read two books that worked really well together: One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson The Plot Against America by Philip Roth The Bill Bryson book is, I think, a work of subtle genius - he makes stuff that I would normally have no interest in absolutely…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗All of these are by Bill Bryson but none are about travel: Shakespeare: the World as Stage One Summer: America, 1927 The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way Made in America: an Informal History of the English Language in the US At Home: A Short History of Private Life
on “Ask HN: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2019?” ↗…Peter Heather. Very well researched and written narrative examining how the Empire fared in the 3rd-5th centuries. Has a different perspective than the usual "Barbarian invasions ended the empire". * One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson. I love everything Bryson writes. This is no exception. * Rocket Ranch: The Nuts and Bolts of the Apollo Moon Program at Kennedy Space Center by Jonathan H. Ward. Also read…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗Anything by Bill Bryson, but especially “At Home” and “One Summer: America, 1927”. Both are brilliant. “John Adams” by David McCullough. Possibly the best historical bio ever. “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” by Richard Rhodes. The best recounting of the founding…
on “Ask HN: Examples of good technical writing?” ↗…Depression, and later going to war in the South Pacific and coming back and then working as a civil rights worker left an indelible mark on him. He really enjoyed a book I gave him recently, Bill Bryson's "One Summer -- America, 1927". He says that it brings back many memories.
on “Is Summer Different Now?” ↗Two other books in that vein that I really liked: 1. A World Lit Only by Fire — William Manchester 2. One Summer: America, 1927 — Bill Bryson
on “Under Notre Dame, a 'dig of the century' unearths 1,700 years of history” ↗…in 2016: 1. The Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge - Poundstone, William 2. My Brain is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos - Schechter, Bruce 3. One Summer: America, 1927 - Bryson, Bill 4. The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1) - Liu, Cixin 5. The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit - Godin, Seth 6. At Home: A Short History…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗