History YMMV / BillBryson

* CrossesTheLineTwice: When talking about how Dutch sometimes sounds remarkably like a garbled version of English (especially as it's speakers so often effortlessly switch between the two) Bryson conjures this jaw dropping exchange between a hotel proprietor and his unseen wife:

* NightmareFuel: ''Many'' descriptions of Australian wildlife and the travails of outback explorers (though it's all TruthInTelevision...). Also the descriptions of potential megadisasters in ''Short History''. (Now I've [[MadeMyselfSad made myself scared]]...)

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: It is possible to track a distinct evolution in Bryson's attitudes and prejudices reading his books chronologically. He seems to become mellower and less judgmental in later books, perhaps as he becomes increasingly learned. In earlier books there was a hint of misogyny but in his most recent books he seems to have come over to the side of feminism (he uses 'she' as a default pronoun and is very active in documenting the achievements of women is his books about history and science, and is keen to denounce their often unacknowledged importance to their fields).The writer of books like 'A Short History Of NEarly Everything' and 'At Home' feels like a much more informed and liberal man that the writer of 'The Lost Continent'.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: ''Many'' descriptions of Australian wildlife and the travails of outback explorers (though it's all TruthInTelevision...). Also the descriptions of potential megadisasters in ''Short History''. (Now I've [[MadeMyselfSad made myself scared]]...)