When you grow up in middle America you are inculcated from the earliest age with the belief - no, the understanding - that America is the richest and most powerful nation on earth because God likes us best. It has the most perfect form of government, the most exciting sporting events, the tastiest food and amplest portions, the largest cars, the cheapest gasoline, the most abundant natural resources, the most productive farms, the most devastating nuclear arsenal and the friendliest, most decent and most patriotic folks on Earth. Countries just don't come any better. So why anyone would want to live anywhere else is practically incomprehensible. In a foreigner it is puzzling; in a native it is seditious. I used to feel this way myself.

Eventually living in North Yorkshire and mainly working as a journalist Bryson became chief copy editor of the business section of The Times and then deputy national news editor of the business section of The Independent. ) (1999)
Down Under (UK) / In a Sunburned Country (U. "
In November 2006 Bryson interviewed the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the state of science and education.

He received widespread recognition again with the publication of A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003) which popularised scientific questions for a general audience. Bryson shot to prominence in the United Kingdom with the publication of Notes From A Small Island (1995) an exploration of Britain for which he made an accompanying television series. Born an American he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before returning to the US in 1995.