Bryson (A Short History of Nearly Everything) takes readers on a tour of his house, a rural English parsonage, showing how each room has figured in the evolution of private life.

Floor plans on end papers.

The year -- The setting -- The hall -- The kitchen -- The scullery and the larder -- The fusebox -- The drawing room -- The dining room -- The cellar -- The passage -- The study -- The garden -- The plum room -- The stairs -- The bedroom -- The bathroom -- The dressing room -- The nursery -- The attic.