Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Tell the Publisher!
I�d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Lost Worlds: What Have We Lost and Where Did it Go? [Hardcover]

Michael Bywater (Author)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

Formats	Amazon Price		New from	Used from
Hardcover	--		--	--
Paperback	�7.19		--	--

Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details.

› See more product promotions

Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed

Big Babies: Or: Why Can't We Just Grow Up? by Michael Bywater
3.7 out of 5 stars (9)

�6.07

Product details

Hardcover: 356 pages
Publisher: Granta Books; 1st Edition. edition (28 Oct 2004)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1862077010
ISBN-13: 978-1862077010
Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.4 x 3 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 682,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Michael Bywater Page

Product Description

James Delingpole, Literary Review

'I can confidently predict that Michael Bywater’s Lost Worlds is going to be an enormous popular success.'

Val Hennessy, Critic’s Choice, Daily Mail

‘Wonderfully original, entertaining and occasionally tear-jerking miscellany about life, loss and the human condition'

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
From one loser to another: goodbye. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

humour(1)

michael bywater(1)

popular culture(1)

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

Big Babies: Or: Why Can't We Just Grow Up? by Michael Bywater Paperback
3.7 out of 5 stars (9)

�6.07

The Age of Absurdity: Why Modern Life Makes it Hard to be Happy by Michael Foley Paperback
4.2 out of 5 stars (62)

�4.75

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

15 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tardis of a book, 25 Nov 2004

Phoenicopter (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Worlds: What Have We Lost and Where Did it Go? (Hardcover)

Pick this up in a Christmas-stacked bookshop and you might think you were browsing (yet) another of those Schott-like lists, albeit an aparently denser one.
But do not be deceived by the alphabetical arrangement or the deliciously eccentric index; Bywater's book is not just, or even, a lexicon of loss. It is in reality an autobiography, a celebration of the life of Great Britain in the second half of the C20, its certainties, its conventions, its style and aspirations and of a child growing into a man as some of those solidities proved themselves ephemeral. Darkly elegaic at times, luminous and lyrical at others, angry, affectionate, erudite, self-indulgent and, above all, terribly terribly funny.

(Perhaps garters and Virol will come in the second edition?)

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare,Unusual and very very funny, 28 Nov 2005

By A Customer

This review is from: Lost Worlds: What Have We Lost and Where Did it Go? (Hardcover)

This books sums up the author so totally, with its cocktail of cynicism,nostalgia, hope, angst,resentment, dissatisfaction and almost sentimental yearnings for normality...security....homeliness. This book seems to be intensely personal yet accessible to everyone...we can all remember and indentify with things that he discusses...we get reminded of things from our youth that we had forgotten about and learn about new things that are a focal part of someone else's childhood.But the main thing about Lost Worlds..is that it is unbelievably funny, it had me actually having to lie down cause i got a stitch from laughing...some of the stories will be imprinted on yr brain forever...Its a wonderful, unusual and brilliant book and i thoroughly recommend it.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, life-affirming book, 9 Feb 2006

R. Carter "Richard Carter" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lost Worlds: What Have We Lost and Where Did it Go? (Paperback)

I came to this having greatly liked Michael Bywater's work in The Independent and I wasn’t disappointed: it’s a marvellous book that contains nostalgia but which is informed by a very sharp sense of humour. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read ‘Ancients, Wisdom of the,’ and each time it makes me laugh again. Wonderful!

Incidentally, theodorawayte is wrong that the Bakelite telephone with its little drawer is missing: it’s right there, in footnote 67, page49, under Bakelite.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse | Permalink

Comment Comment

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 15 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

Would you like to see more reviews about this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 7 reviews 2.6 out of 5 stars

Were these reviews helpful? Let us know

Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Spare us!
Another lament for the passing of time by self-regarding fogey, like Michael Foley's Age of Absurdity and Marcus Berkmann's Shed, a genre appealing to women, who can then feel... Read more

Published 8 days ago by Simon G. Barrett

5.0 out of 5 stars A Philosophical Masterpiece
Firstly there are a few prerequisites to be got over. You will need to be in your "middle years" and preferably slightly aghast to have got there. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Ian Richardson

5.0 out of 5 stars Just found it again and funny as ever
I was clearing a flat and found this book I had last read about 4 years ago. I clearly remember hearing Stephen Fry read parts on the Radio and had to have the book after that... Read more

Published 21 months ago by Sally Wilton

5.0 out of 5 stars Lost Worlds
If you are over forty,this is an absolutely first class read. A book to make you smile and laugh out loud,a reminder of how things used to be, and in many cases a realisation of... Read more

Published on 7 Oct 2009 by Peter K. Mullins

1.0 out of 5 stars Not what it says on the tin
Failed the first chapter test...irritating chattering classes book that no doubt enables amusing dinner party conversations...clearly I am too common to appreciate its wit... Read more

Published on 26 Jan 2008 by John

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic!
as i myself am not a literary genius all i can surfice to say is that this book equates to a really big cake placed in front of you that tastes absolutely naughty as hell but has... Read more

Published on 20 Aug 2007 by Ms. C. J. brown

4.0 out of 5 stars A rare treat!
I hadn't laughed out loud whilst reading a book for quite a while until I got my hands on this. It is funny, poignant, quietly erudite and wickedly witty. Highly recommended.

Published on 8 Feb 2007 by C. A. Gallagher

5.0 out of 5 stars A treat to read
I'm so glad that good writing, intelligent humour and fascination with the obscure have not vanished into some lost world! Read more

Published on 15 May 2006 by Secret Spi

1.0 out of 5 stars Interesting content but awful writing style
My brother recommended this book and I must express my bitter disappointment.

The idea and content is good but unfortunately the way the book is written it epitomises how... Read more

Published on 19 Feb 2006 by tc_copenhagen

5.0 out of 5 stars Legend
Mr Bywater is a without a doubt an all round good egg. Insightful, amusing and occasionally a bit of a grumpy old sod. Buy this book you'll not regret it.

Published on 12 Jan 2005

› See all 15 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
fiction forum Non-Whigers' Forum. Hard working authors and sensible readers only	1575	30 minutes ago
fiction forum Love a good family saga.... Any good recommendations?	78	31 minutes ago
fiction forum Interesting, Stimulating books for younger children	0	57 minutes ago
fiction forum What are you reading now?	3719	1 hour ago
fiction forum Time-slip novels. What's good?	87	2 hours ago
fiction forum Come on - why don't we write our own book right here in the fiction forum ? I'll do the first sentence, and then jump in....hold on, here we go...	3693	2 hours ago
fiction forum Favourite Publishers	19	2 hours ago
fiction forum Do you like serialized books?	6	2 hours ago