Twenty essays consider the declining American cultural standard and include the writings of such figures as Philip Lopate, Cynthia Ozick, Wendy Kaminer, Francine Prose, Sven Birkerts, George F. Kennan, Brad Leithauser, and John Simon.

Amazon.com Review:
The idea that American culture is entering a great age of stupidity is something we hear everyday, but what distinguishes this collection of essays on that theme is the diversity of the commentators (and the damage they survey) and the wit exhibited in their reports. Noted essayist Phillip Lopate reports on Hollywood as afraid or merely unwilling to present characters who happen to be intelligent; Ken Kalfus writes about how Star Trek exhibits took the place of real science at the esteemed Hayden Planetarium; and Jonathan Rosen offers a controversial essay arguing that tragedy is trivialized by such institutions as the Holocaust Museum. While Dumbing Down contains more than 20 insightful essays delineating how American culture is being degraded, the effect is not depressing, but rather hopeful, in the sense that problems must be identified before they can be fixed.

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Katharine Washburn, John F. Thornton, John Simon - Dumbing Down, Essays on the Strip Mining of Ameri can Culture (1996).djvu

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Lierre Keith - The Vegetarian Myth, Food, Justice, and Sustainability (2009).jpg

Part memoir, nutritional primer, and political manifesto, this controversial examination exposes the destructive history of agriculture—causing the devastation of prairies and forests, driving countless species extinct, altering the climate, and destroying the topsoil—and asserts that, in order to save the planet, food must come from within living communities. In order for this to happen, the argument champions eating locally and sustainably and encourages those with the resources to grow their own food. Further examining the question of what to eat from the perspective of both human and environmental health, the account goes beyond health choices and discusses potential moral issues from eating—or not eating—animals. Through the deeply personal narrative of someone who practiced veganism for 20 years, this unique exploration also discusses alternatives to industrial farming, reveals the risks of a vegan diet, and explains why animals belong on ecologically sound farms.

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Lierre Keith - The Vegetarian Myth, Food, Justice, and Sustainability (2009).jp.pdf

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Mark E. Neely, Jr - The Civil War and the Limits o f Destruction (2007).jpg

The Civil War is often portrayed as the most brutal war in America's history, a premonition of twentieth-century slaughter and carnage. In challenging this view, Mark E. Neely, Jr., considers the war's destructiveness in a comparative context, revealing the sense of limits that guided the conduct of American soldiers and statesmen.

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Mark E. Neely, Jr - The Civil War and the Limits o f Destruction (2007).pdf

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Richard Rayner - A Bright and Guilty Place, Murder , Corruption, and L.A.'s Scandalous Coming of Age (2009).jpg

A captivating chronicle of how the City of Angels lost its soul.

In the 1920s Los Angeles was the fastest growing city in the world, mad with oil fever, get-rich-quick schemes, celebrity scandals, and religious fervor. It was also rife with organized crime, with a mayor in the pocket of the syndicates and a DA taking bribes to throw trials. In A Bright and Guilty Place, Richard Rayner narrates the entwined lives of two men, Dave Clark and Leslie White, who were caught up in the crimes, murders, and swindles of the day. Over a few transformative years, as the boom times shaded into the Depression, the adventures of Clark and White would inspire pulp fiction and replace L.A.’s reckless optimism with a new cynicism. Together, theirs is the tale of how the city of sunshine got noir.

When A Bright and Guilty Place begins, Leslie White is a naïve young photographer who lands a job as a crime-scene investigator in the L.A. district attorney’s office. There he meets Dave Clark, a young, movie-star handsome lawyer and a rising star prosecutor with big ambitions. The cases they tried were some of the first "trials of the century," starring dark-hearted oil barons, sexually perverse starlets, and hookers with hearts of gold. Los Angeles was in the grip of organized crime, and White was dismayed to see that only the innocent paid while the powerful walked free. But Clark was entranced by L.A.’s dangerous lures and lived the high life, marrying a beautiful woman, wearing custom-made suits, yachting with the rich and powerful, and jaunting off to Mexico for gambling and girls. In a shocking twist, when Charlie Crawford, the Al Capone of L.A., was found dead, the chief suspect was none other than golden boy Dave Clark.

A Bright and Guilty Place is narrative nonfiction at its most gripping. Key to the tale are the story of the theft of water from the Owens River Valley that let L.A. grow; the Teapot Dome scandal that brought shame to President Harding; and the emergence of crime writers like Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain, who helped mythologize L.A. In Rayner’s hands, the ballad of Dave Clark is the story of the coming of age of a great American city.

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Robert Pinsky - Thousands of Broadways, Dreams and Nightmares of the American Small Town (2009).jpg

Broadway, the main street that runs through Robert Pinsky’s home town of Long Branch, New Jersey, was once like thousands of other main streets in small towns across the country. But for Pinsky, one of America’s most admired poets and its former Poet Laureate, this Broadway is the point of departure for a lively journey through the small towns of the American imagination. Thousands of Broadways explores the dreams and nightmares of such small towns—their welcoming yet suffocating, warm yet prejudicial character during their heyday, from the early nineteenth century through World War II.

The citizens of quintessential small towns know one another extensively and even intimately, but fail to recognize the geniuses and criminal minds in their midst. Bringing the works of such figures as Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Alfred Hitchcock, Thornton Wilder, Willa Cather, and Preston Sturges to bear on this paradox, as well as reflections on his own time growing up in a small town, Pinsky explores how such imperfect knowledge shields communities from the anonymity and alienation of modern life. Along the way, he also considers how small towns can be small minded—in some cases viciously judgmental and oppressively provincial. Ultimately, Pinsky examines the uneasy regard that creative talents like him often have toward the small towns that either nurtured or thwarted their artistic impulses.

Of living in a small town, Sherwood Anderson once wrote that "the sensation is one never to be forgotten. On all sides are ghosts, not of the dead, but of living people." Passionate, lyrical, and intensely moving, Thousands of Broadways is a rich exploration of this crucial theme in American literature by one of its most distinguished figures.

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Squadron - Armor Specials 6038 - Jim Mesko - Armor in Korea, A Pictorial History (1984).jpg

The use of armored vehicles by the US Army, USMC, USAF, Republic of Korea, Canada Great Britain, and the North Korean Peoples Army is detailed.

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Squadron - Armor Specials 6038 - Jim Mesko - Armor in Korea, A Pictorial History (1984).pdf

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Lawrence Rothfield - The Rape of Mesopotamia, Beh ind the Looting of the Iraq Museum (2009).jpg

On April 10, 2003, as the world watched a statue of Saddam Hussein come crashing down in the heart of Baghdad, a mob of looters attacked the Iraq National Museum. Despite the presence of an American tank unit, the pillaging went unchecked, and more than 15,000 artifacts—some of the oldest evidence of human culture—disappeared into the shadowy worldwide market in illicit antiquities. In the five years since that day, the losses have only mounted, with gangs digging up roughly half a million artifacts that had previously been unexcavated; the loss to our shared human heritage is incalculable.

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Edward S. Curtis - North American Indian (2005).jpg

At the turn of the century, the American photographer, Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) started on his thirty-year project to produce a monumental study of North American Indians. Using an approach that was both artistically and scientifically ambitious he recorded, in words and pictures, the traces of the traditional Indian way of life that was already beginning to die out. With tireless personal commitment, Curtis visited American Indian tribes from the Mexican border to the Bering Straits, gaining their confidence by his patience and sensitivity. This, his photographic life's work, was printed in 20 volumes between 1907 and 1930 as "The North American Indian". There were only 272 copies in total, so original copies are now extremely rare. This book gives lasting life to Curtis's great achievements by making the photographs available again.

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Edward S. Curtis - North American Indian (2005).pdf

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David Domke - God Willing, Political Fundamentali sm in the White House, the 'War on Terror,' and th e Echoing Press (2004).jpg

USA Books1 - David Domke - God Willing, Political Fundamentalism i... House, the War on Terror, and the Echoing Press 2004.jpg

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush and his administration offered a 'political fundamentalism' that capitalized upon the fear felt by many Americans. Political fundamentalism is the adaptation of a conservative religious worldview, via strategic language choices and communication approaches, into a policy agenda that feels political rather than religious. These communications dominated public discourse and public opinion for months on end and came at a significant cost for democracy. In particular, the administration closed off a substantive societal – and international – conversation about the meaning of the terrorist attacks and the direction of the nation by consistently:
• showing antipathy toward complex conceptions of reality;
• framing calls for immediate action on administration policies as part of the nation’s 'calling' and 'mission' against terrorism;
• issuing declarations about the will of God for America and the values of freedom and liberty;
• and demonstrating an intolerance for dissent.
The administration had help spreading its messages. The mainstream press consistently echoed the administration’s communications – thereby disseminating, reinforcing and embedding the administration’s fundamentalist worldview and helping to keep at bay Congress and any substantive public questioning. This book analyzes hundreds of administration communications and news stories from September 2001 to Iraq in spring 2003 to examine how this occurred and what it means for U.S. politics and the global landscape.

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David Domke - God Willing, Political Fundamentali sm in the White House, the 'War on Terror,' and th e Echoing Press (2004).djvu

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Osprey - Graphic History 2 - Larry Hama - The Bloo diest Day, Battle of Antietam (2006).jpg

The battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862 was the first major Civil War engagement on Northern soil, and it remains the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. Of the 90,000 troops that fought, over 23,000 were killed or wounded. Antietam also marked a significant turning point: General Lee's bold invasion of the North was halted by the Union's stiff resistance, and the Union's success gave President Lincoln the victory he needed to announce his Emancipation Proclamation. By the day's end, the fate of the Confederacy was sealed. This book illustrates this significant, but costly, Union victory through 36 pages of comic book-style narrative and eight pages of background information, detailing the key players, the experience of the forces and the aftermath of the battle.

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Osprey - Graphic History 2 - Larry Hama - The Bloo diest Day, Battle of Antietam (2006).pdf

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Osprey - Graphic History 4 - Larry Hama - Surpris e Attack!, Battle of Shiloh (2006).jpg

The first major Civil War battle in the Western theater, Shiloh came as a horrifying shock to both the American public and those in arms. On April 6, 1862, Confederate forces staged a surprise attack on the Union army encamped along the Tennessee River. Fighting was fierce as General Grant struggled to hold off the enemy until his reinforcements arrived the following day. Though nearly driven into the Tennessee River, the Union army claimed a victory - but at a dear cost. With nearly 24,000 total casualties in two days' fighting, 'Bloody Shiloh' served as a wake-up call to the nation, announcing that the continuing fight for the Union would be devastating for both sides. This book illustrates one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles in 36 pages of comic book-style narrative and eight pages of background information, detailing the key players, the experience of the forces, and the aftermath of the battle.

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Robert Mason - Richard Nixon and the Quest for a N ew Majority (2004).jpg

In recent years historians have paid substantial attention to the origins of modern political conservatism and the record of the Nixon administration in building a Republican majority in the late twentieth century. In Richard Nixon and the Quest for a New Majority, Robert Mason analyzes Nixon's response to the developing conservative climate and challenges revisionist claims about the activist nature of the Nixon administration. Nixon was an activist in intent, Mason contends, but not in deed. Nixon's "silent majority" speech of 1969 not only undermined the growth of the antiwar movement, Mason shows, it also identified a constituency for Nixon to cultivate in order to secure reelection. However, the implementation of his new-majority project was hindered by the resort to dirty tricks against political opponents and the ineffectual pursuit of a policy agenda. Although some Nixon initiatives were enacted, says Mason, they were not substantial enough to rival the Democrats' bread-and-butter issues. While Nixon built Republican strength at the presidential level, Mason argues that he did not succeed in mobilizing popular support for broad-based political conservatism.

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Robert Mason - Richard Nixon and the Quest for a N ew Majority (2004).pdf

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William A. Young - Quest for Harmony, Native Ameri can Spiritual Traditions (2001).jpg

The heart of each presentation is an introduction to the nation's spiritual worldview and rituals, including cosmology, and gods and spirits. Quest for Harmony is intended for anyone seeking a basic understanding of the cultures and spiritual teachings of Native American nations. It is sympathetic and respectful, presenting the views of Native Americans in their own voice wherever possible. Critical issues common to Native Americas such as the Pannational spiritual movements and the environment are also covered.

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William A. Young - Quest for Harmony, Native Ameri can Spiritual Traditions (2001).pdf

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Edward Leo Lyman - The Overland Journey From Utah To California, Wagon Travel From The City Of Saint s To The City Of Angels (2004).jpg

USA Books1 - Edward Leo Lyman - The Overland Journey From Utah To C...el From The City Of Saints To The City Of Angels 2004.jpg

The wagon trail between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles is one of the most important and least-known elements of nineteenth-century Western migration. Known as the Southern Route, it included the western half of the Old Spanish Trail and was favored because it could be used for travel and freighting year-round. It was, however, arguably the most difficult route that pioneers traveled with any consistency in the entire history of the country, following not rivers but leading from one—sometimes dubious—desert watering place to the next and offering few havens for the sick, weary, or unfortunate.

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Edward Leo Lyman - The Overland Journey From Utah To California, Wagon Travel From The City Of Saint s To The City Of Angels (2004).pdf

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David Miller - Tell Me Lies, Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq (2003).jpg

What did the media tell us in the run up to war on Iraq? Was it all true? Where are the weapons of mass destruction? This book is for everyone who is appalled by the duplicity and misinformation churned out by the media in the lead up to war with Iraq, and in its long and continuing aftermath. Written by some of the world's leading journalists and commentators, it's a scathing indictment of the media's role in creating public support for a war which, day by day, is taking a heavy toll in coalition and Iraqi lives, and which threatens to create further instability and resentment of the US throughout the Middle East.
Critics, activists and journalists from both sides of the Atlantic destroy the idea that the mainstream media have anything to do with objectivity and balance. The propaganda machinery of the UK and US in the Iraq war is exposed as fundamentally dishonest and as a significant threat to freedom of thought and expression. The book draws on the experience of leading anti-war and media activists to provide analysis and guidance on how to resist the media war.

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David Miller - Tell Me Lies, Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq (2003).pdf

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Alex S. Jones - Losing the News, The Future of the News That Feeds Democracy (2009).jpg

What is wrong with the news?
To answer this dismaying question, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alex S. Jones explores how the epochal changes sweeping the media have eroded the core news that has been the essential food supply of our democracy.
At a time of dazzling technological innovation, Jones says that what stands to be lost is the fact-based reporting that serves as a watchdog over government, holds the powerful accountable, and gives citizens what they need. In a tumultuous new media era, with cutthroat competition and panic over profits, the commitment of the traditional news media to serious news is fading. Should we lose a critical mass of this news, our democracy will weaken--and possibly even begin to fail.
The breathtaking possibilities that the web offers are undeniable, but at what cost? The shattering of the old economic model is taking a toll on journalistic values and standards. Journalistic objectivity and ethics are under assault, as is the bastion of the First Amendment. Pundits and talk show hosts have persuaded Americans that the crisis in news is bias and partisanship. Not so, says Jones. The real crisis is the erosion of the iron core of "accountability" news, a loss that hurts Republicans and Democrats alike.
Losing the News is a vivid depiction of the dangers facing fact-based, reported news, but it is also a call to arms. Despite the current crisis, there are many hopeful signs, and Jones closes by looking over the horizon and exploring ways the iron core can be preserved.

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Alex S. Jones - Losing the News, The Future of the News That Feeds Democracy (2009).pdf

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Dave C. Harper - U.S. Coin Digest 2008, The Comple te Guide to Current Market Values, 6th edition (20 08).jpg

Features 1,700+ color photos, covering all areas of U.S. coin collecting
This fully-illustrated color coin guide gives you the keys to successful collecting - up-to-date and accurate pricing and high-quality photos for easily identifying U.S. coins. With all circulating and non-circulating U.S. coins accompanied by concise details and pricing, in an easy-to-carry and easy-to-use format, this affordable guide is a must-have. New items in this edition include:
*Listings for the latest issues of the State Quarter series and commemoratives
*Colonial states coinage listings
*Early coinage of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Hawaii
*U.S. Territorial Gold coinage
*Mint, proof and prestige sets

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