Overview

Bryson wrote Notes from a Small Island when he decided to move back to his native United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, but wanted to take one final trip around Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, which had been his home for over twenty years. Bryson covers all corners of the island observing and talking to people from as far afield as Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

 in the West County to John O'Groats at the north-eastern tip of Scotland's mainland. During this trip he insisted on using only public transport, but failed on two occasions: in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

 and on the journey to John O' Groats he had to rent a car.

On his way, Bryson provides historical information on the places he visits, and expresses amazement at the heritage in Britain, stating that there were 445,000 listed historical buildings, 12,000 medieval churches, 1500000 acre of common land, 120000 miles (193,120.8 km) of footpaths and public rights-of-way, 600,000 known sites of archaeological interest and that in his Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

 village at that time, there were more 17th-century buildings than in the whole of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

Bryson also pays homage to to the humble self-effacing fortitude of British people under trying times such as the World Wars and Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, as well as the various peculiarities of Britain and British English (such as not understanding, on his first arrival, what a counterpane was, and assuming it was something to do with a window, or of first going into an English tobacconist's and hearing the man in front of him ask for "Twenty Number 7", and assuming that everything in Britain was ordered by number). A popular brand at the time was Embassy Regal Number 7, and in British English it is usual to ask for twenty meaning a packet, not twenty of them.

Reception

In an opinion poll organized for World Book Day in 2003, Notes from a Small Island was voted by BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

 listeners as the book which best represented England.

The book was adapted for Carlton Television

Carlton Television

Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...

 in 1998 and appeared as a six-part 30-minute documentary broadcast on ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 from January to February 1999. The book is available in an audio book format as well.

Heavily abridged, the book was read in five fifteen-minute episodes by Kerry Shale

Kerry Shale

Kerry Shale is a UK-based actor, writer and voice-over artist. He is married to Suzanne Shale, a former Oxford University law don, now a specialist in the field of medical ethics.-Theatre:...

 for BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

. It has been repeated on BBC Radio 7 several times.