Summary

Travel writer Bill Bryson looks at the language of America and explains the history behind it, including the origins of phrases such as The real McCoy and the G-string; why two humble bicycle repairmen from Ohio succeeded in mastering manned flight when the world's greatest engineers couldn't get a model aircraft off the ground; why the assassination of President Garfield led to the invention of air conditioning; and how a lonesome hamburger stand at the end of Route 66 provided the inspiration for McDonald's.

Travel writer Bill Bryson looks at the language of America and explains the history behind it, including the origins of phrases such as The real McCoy and the G-string; why two humble bicycle repairmen from Ohio succeeded in mastering manned flight when the world's greatest engineers couldn't get a model aircraft off the ground; why the assassination of President Garfield led to the invention of air conditioning; and how a lonesome hamburger stand at the end of Route 66 provided the inspiration for McDonald's.