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.