At Home: A Short History of Private Life

Title: At Home: A Short History of Private Life

Author: Bill Bryson

Publisher: Doubleday

Pages: 512

ISBN: 0767919386

We study history at a grand level. It is a story of epic events. The rise and fall of empires and kingdoms. The rule and misrule of kings and emperors; their achievements and foibles. Tales of gallantry and treachery. Yet for the vast majority, history is not composed of epic events and struggles. It is personal and intimate. It is a story of parents and grand parents struggles and lessons learned. And it is a story of the personal things that families accrue over a lifetime.

After a grand overview of the history of the universe, Mr. Bryson turns his attention to the other end of the scale: a history of personal life and the things that we take for granted. This story is much more fascinating than the epic tales of rulers and wars because it has a personal resonance. This is a story of origins. A tale of how we came to live in the fashion that we did. It is also a story of people struggling to understand and incorporate new trends, discoveries and things into their lives. Mr. Bryson takes his own house as a representative example and then proceeds from room to room explaining the history behind each room. Not only do we learn how various rooms got the functions that we use them for today, we also learn about the various items that are used in these rooms (and sometimes in the house overall).

Take tea as an example. How should tea be used? It is blindingly obvious to us today but things were a lot murkier for our ancestors who first encountered these strange looking and smelling leaves. There is an endearing tale in the book of a hostess who spread tea leaves on toast and offered it to her guests. Here we see a person struggling to make sense of something strange and exciting.

Electricity is another example. People relied on candle power for thousands of years. The pre-modern lighting world was a lot dimmer than our times. But that apparently did not prevent people from staying up late and having a good time. It seems that many of our ancestors were just as determined party goers as many of us today.

At Home is full of these little intimate details. It turns out that history at the small scale is just as interesting as epic tales of valor and glory. Infact in my view, the small stuff history is more interesting because it is closer to us and hence more intimate, personal and understanding. The book is a great read. Definitely recommended. There are however a few caveats. This book spans several centuries and talks about trends that affected personal life; trends that were spread out over long periods of time. As a result, the book has a tendency to lose focus. At times I started wondering what the relevancy of some of the material was to the concerned chapter. This does not detract from the book which remains a smashing good read.