THE BOOKS
Julian has written two books on America:
High, Wide, & Handsome - a travel book written to explain the origins of American Culture for new immigrants, curious Americans, and those with a strong interest in the USA.
Are We There Yet? - a travel book exploring America's diverse communities and examining the US's future.
Are We There Yet?
Are We There Yet? follows the author Julian Bishop's exhilarating journeys through the United States. It explores America's cultural breadth and depicts a complex country with sizeable communities that defy the American stereotype.
From the quirks of pardoning turkeys to the enigmatic lure of speakeasies, this book peels back the layers of American culture. It's a deep dive into the nuances, from navigating dog beaches to bracing for hurricanes, while also uncovering the profound influence of Italian history on the nation's fabric. Delight in unraveling the traditions of the Amish, the intricacies of voting machines, the complexities of juvenile detention centers, and one hundred other nuggets of American culture.
Like its predecessor, Amazon-bestseller High Wide and Handsome, this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about America. It is a book that will make you laugh, think, and appreciate the diversity of this complex and fascinating country.
High, Wide, & Handsome
British-born US resident, Julian Bishop, is at an inflexion point. His children have left home, and he and his wife must decide what to do next. They travel across America and reflect upon whether they truly want to be American.
High, Wide, and Handsome is an witty travel book that explores American culture. It investigates why the USA has been so successful since independence and also identifies the issues it still needs to address. In a world where America’s political leaders are widely ridiculed, the book acts as an antidote to the narrative that everything American is broken.
The book is proving to be very popular among:
- US immigrants trying to understand their new world
- Travelers to the USA wanting to understand America better
- Americans curious to understand how others see them and how their culture was developed
BOOK EXCERPT
Here's a short excerpt from Are We There Yet?
We enjoyed breakfast on several occasions in a nearby Amish community in Sarasota. While Amish communities are common in about half of the US states, this Florida community is where the Amish go on vacation.
In late-seventeenth-century Switzerland, a small group of Anabaptists led by Jakob Ammann split from their church in Switzerland. Interestingly, the Anabaptists initially intended the name 'Amish' as an insult to this bunch of renegades. About five hundred Amish came to America at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and an additional fifteen hundred joined them just over a century later.
Almost every one of the approximately 360,000 Amish and Mennonite people in the US today can trace their background to these two thousand immigrants. As the Amish are not evangelical, they have achieved this entirely through procreation. Indeed, only seventy-five people not born into an Amish family have ever joined the church.
The Amish community is one of the fastest-growing on the planet. With each couple having an average of seven children, the Amish population roughly doubles every eighteen years. If this high birth rate continues, its numbers will reach 0.7 million by 2040 and 1.4 million by 2060. The Amish don't tend to use birth control, not because it is forbidden, but rather because they view large families as part of God's purpose.
The verified Amazon and Goodreads reviews are very strong. Many are five-star reviews and almost all the others are four-star reviews.
BIO
Julian Bishop and his family have lived on three continents and traveled to over one hundred countries. For more than a decade, Julian has resided in the United States while continuing to explore the world extensively.
His first travel book, 'High, Wide, and Handsome,' was written to help new immigrants understand the United States better—or to engage others with a keen interest in the country. The second book—'Are We There Yet?'—delves into both America's future and its diverse communities.
Julian's passions span a wide range of eclectic interests, including how history affects culture, the foster care system, tennis, bridge, installation art, cricket, and fatherhood, to name but a few.
