At Home: A Short History of Private Life

By Bill Bryson

Bryson takes the reader on a tour of his own English home, with a history of how each area came to be, including inside and outside areas.  While he gets off subject sometimes, including sections on rats, bats, and archaeology, he eventually gets back to why we have dining rooms, indoor plumbing, and gardens.

Very well written -- I even learned something about rats and the plague that I hadn't heard before.  The topic that sticks most in my mind was how so many unique structures were destroyed mainly due to the passage of death taxes.  Also, how Stonehenge was almost torn down by the landowner, then later almost torn down and reassembled in the United States.