Listen free for 30 days

Preview
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything

  • Written by: Bill Bryson
  • Narrated by: Bill Bryson
  • Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (731 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Written by: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Bill Bryson
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.77

Buy Now for $25.77

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson’s quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. His challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science.

It's not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the Earth, or what a black hole is, or where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?

On his travels through time and space, Bill Bryson takes us with him on the ultimate eye-opening journey and reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.

©2003 Bill Bryson (P)2003 Random House Audiobooks
  • Abridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about A Short History of Nearly Everything

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    547
  • 4 Stars
    130
  • 3 Stars
    41
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    458
  • 4 Stars
    113
  • 3 Stars
    27
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    451
  • 4 Stars
    109
  • 3 Stars
    31
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Eye opening!

So many facts and concepts all stung together in one magnificent story. I hung on every word from the first to the last. I would recommend this book to anyone I know.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thought Provoking

A reliable effort from Bill Bryson. He reads his own work with a gentle, authoritative tone that is easy to follow. Some may find the work unnerving but it puts our place in the cosmos into perspective and at once makes the listener proud and humble to be a small part of the history of nearly everything.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible!

What a great book, I feel like this book did a better job than my university degree.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome

Great book! I enjoy listening to it, which I have done multiple times! Every time I do I hear new information I miss from the previous times. The narrator is funny, and jokes around in between information.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book

It’s a pleasant excursion…a short trip through all time and creation!Well read,and provides a wealth of information. Makes some diffficult topics very tangible.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love it

I've read the book and listened to the audiobook now. There's so much information to ingest and all presented in such an approachable easy way. I'm sure I'll revisit it again in another year or two.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Homo Sapiens is intelligent?

Good stud the horse, good cocktail the hen, good bull the cow, good so it goes the woman is still enduring stress while giving birth? How can we use our medical intellect to lessen the fatality rate; What stood out for me was human beings have not lived a long lifetime, and likelihood that it is over for us is greater as the author alluded too the finality of existence, that it will require more than just luck.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Read / Listen

I understand this book was a NY Times Bestseller and no wonder. I was disappointed when I reached the end of the book because I wanted this read to go on forever. If you have studied math and science in high school and university, in a few hours Bill Bryson will take you through everything you have ever been taught and much more. If after the first chapter you don't appreciate how marvelous the uiniverse is on both atomic and galactic scales, then I feel sorry for you. An old classmate (who I work for now) recommended the book and I cannot thank him enough. Everyone can understand science, with the help of Bill Bryson.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

This is one of my favourite audio books I’ve ever listened to. So packed with great information and a fantastic presenter. I will definitely listen to it again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Best Professor

January 2022 | 4.5/5
We start with the very beginning of everything and our journey concludes present day along the way we learn a little bit about basically everything - apt title. I had a blast, and though the material is a little dated at times, there's a plethora of interesting tidbits to gobble up. And learning with Bill Bryson is a treat.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!