Wit and warmth added to slice of history

Babe Ruth hit more home runs than had ever been hit before, Prohibition burst on to a reluctant countryside, a boxing bout turned into the fight of the century, and a salacious love triangle murder case that gripped the nation is now forgotten.

The book has an enormous cast of characters and at times it becomes difficult to remember who is who. It is packed with history, revealing many of the twisted stories behind a few modern-day edifices we never question – such as Mt Rushmore and Herbert Hoover’s rise to power.

But that is typical Bryson. He is easily one of the world’s best writers of comedic nonfiction, always digging up astonishing details, often hilarious.

His wit is as sharp as ever, his love of his fellow man obvious, and his research skills are vast; he must have spent months slogging through editions of the New York Times, a reminder of how well newspapers capture in exhaustive detail day-to-day opinions and events in the cities they serve.

Bryson also outlines the rise of talking pictures, the coming of the Great Depression, and the career of Al Capone, as well as turning a few American presidents – Calvin Coolidge, Warren Harding and Hoover – into recognisably human beings, with warmth and humour.

That ability is one of Bryson’s greatest talents and he demonstrates it perfectly again in this book.