In 1995, before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire to move back to the States for a few years with his family, Bill Bryson insisted on taking one last trip around Britain, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. "Notes from a Small Island" was a huge number-one bestseller when it was first published, and has become the nation's most loved book about Britain, going on to sell over two million copies.