Readers from Toad Suck, Arkansas, to Idiotsville, Oregon--and everywhere in between--will love Made in America, Bill Bryson's Informal History of the English Language in the United States. It is, in a word, fascinating. After reading this tour de force, it's clear that a nation's language speaks volumes about its true character: you are what you speak. Bryson traces America's history through the language of the time, then goes on to discuss words culled from everyday activities: immigration, eating, shopping, advertising, going to the movies, and others.

Made in America will supply you with interesting facts and cocktail chatter for a year or more. Did you know, for example, that Teddy Roosevelt's "speak softly and carry a big stick" credo has its roots in a West African proverb? Or that actor Walter Matthau's given name is Walter Mattaschanskayasky? Or that the supposedly frigid Puritans--who called themselves "Saints," by the way--had something called a pre-contract, which was a license for premarital sex? Made in America is an excellent discussion of American English, but what makes the book such a treasure is that it offers much, much more.

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Cal Massey - Famous African American Women, colori ng book (2002).jpg

The contributions of African-American women to education, civil rights, literature, the performing arts, athletics, and other areas are documented in this carefully rendered coloring book.

Forty-five illustrations spotlight these notable figures: Coretta Scott King, Oprah Winfrey, Sojourner Truth, Frances E. W. Harper, Katherine Dunham, Barbara Jordan, Mary Eliza Mahoney, Nikki Giovanni, Mary Elizabeth Bowser, Toni Morrison, Daisy Bates, Susie King Taylor, Whitney Houston, Mahalia Jackson, Clara "Mother" Hale, Ellen Craft, Maggie Lena Walker, Althea Gibson, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, Mary Church Terrell, Ethel Waters, Shirley Chisholm, Marian Wright Edelman, Myrlie Evers-Williams, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Wilma Rudolph, Mary McLeod Bethune, Madam C. J. Walker, Lorraine Hansberry, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, Ella Fitzgerald, Hattie McDaniel, Constance Baker Motley, Leontyne Price, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Bessie Coleman, Zora Neale Hurston, Harriet Tubman, Mae Jemison, Marian Anderson, Phillis Wheatley, Rosa Parks. Informative captions highlight the achievements of each woman.

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Cal Massey - Famous African American Women, colori ng book (2002).pdf

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Gary Althen - American Ways, A Guide for Foreigner s in the United States (2003).jpg

In clear language and with numerous examples, this book describes the basic characteristics of American culture: values, style of communication, patterns of thinking, customary behaviours, and underlines how they are different from the ways of other cultures. It then shows how these characteristics are reflected in the many aspects of American life which the foreigner encounters (including politics, social relations, personal hygiene, public behaviour, studying and business). The book also offers concrete suggestions on how to learn more about American culture and how to respond most effectively to the Americans one meets.

About the Author
Gary Althen served for thirty years as a foreign student adviser at the University of Iowa, many of them as director of the Office of International Students and Scholars. He has been president of NAFSA: Association of International Educators and received its Marita Houlihan Award for his contributions to the field of international educational exchange. He is the author of The Handbook of Foreign Student Advising and is author, editor, or coauthor of many publications concerning international education and intercultural affairs. He has lived and worked in Peru and Malaysia. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Gary Althen - American Ways, A Guide for Foreigner s in the United States (2003).pdf

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John Taylor Gatto - The Underground History Of Ame rican Education (2001).jpg

The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling is a critique of the U.S. education system by John Taylor Gatto.

Gatto, a former teacher, left the classroom the same year in which he was named New York State Teacher of the Year. He announced his decision in a letter titled "I Quit, I Think".

Using anecdotes gathered from thirty years of teaching, Gatto presents his view of modern compulsion schooling, describing a "conflict between systems which offer physical safety and certainty at the cost of suppressing free will, and those which offer liberty at the price of constant risk". Gatto argues that educational strategies promoted by government and industry leaders for over a century included the creation of a system that keeps real power in the hands of very few people.

From the book's Introduction:

"... Underground History isn’t a history proper, but a collection of materials toward a history, embedded in a personal essay analyzing why mass compulsion schooling is unreformable. The history I have unearthed is important to our understanding; it’s a good start, I believe, but much remains undone."

"... what I’m trying to describe [is] that what has happened to our schools was inherent in the original design for a planned economy and a planned society laid down so proudly at the end of the nineteenth century."

Russ Kick offers this in summary:

"In other words, the captains of industry and government explicitly wanted an educational system that would maintain social order by teaching us just enough to get by but not enough so that we could think for ourselves, question the sociopolitical order, or communicate articulately."

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John Taylor Gatto - The Underground History Of Ame rican Education (2001).pdf

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Karl Samson - Frommer's Arizona 2004 (2004).jpg

Completely updated every year (unlike most of the competition), Frommer’s Arizona 2004 features gorgeous color photos of the state’s spectacular scenery. Extremely detailed and personally researched, this is the most reliable and in-depth guide you can buy for an Arizona adventure. From world-class golf resorts to authentic dude ranches, from stunning Southwestern-style B&Bs; to rustic lodges and secluded campgrounds, our authors have chosen the very best places to stay throughout the state, in all price ranges. They’ll show you the most scenic drives, and take you outdoors for desert hikes, superb golf, thrilling white-water rafting, horseback riding, and more. Serious shoppers will appreciate our insider advice on finding the best of local art galleries and the most intriguing regional crafts, rugs, and pottery. And of course, you’ll discover where to find the best Mexican and Southwestern dining, from elegant resort restaurants to roadside joints that offer great regional specialties and a mean margarita. With Frommer’s in hand, you’ll see all the highlights, from glorious vistas of the Grand Canyon to the fanciful red-rock formations of Sedona, from the eerie monoliths of Monument Valley to the silent splendors of the desert. You’ll even get a free color fold-out map and an online directory that makes trip-planning a snap.

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Karl Samson - Frommer's Arizona 2004 (2004).pdf

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M. Keith Booker - Alternate Americas, Science Fict ion Film and American Culture (2006).jpg

"Booker studies 15 science fiction films made in the US in the second half of the 20th century, including The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Blade Runner (1982), and The Matrix (1999). The 25-page introduction reveals the author's extensive knowledge of his subject; here Booker looks at historical events that affected the production of certain types of films, e.g., the Cold War and the alien-invasion films. He then devotes a chapter to each film, providing for each a one-paragraph introduction; sections on the plot and the sources of the film; a longer discussion of how events in society contributed to certain concerns of the film and elements of the production; and a concluding section on how that film influenced other films…. Recommended. Lower-/upper-division undergraduates; general readers."

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M. Keith Booker - Alternate Americas, Science Fict ion Film and American Culture (2006).pdf

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Marie Morris - Frommer's Boston 2009 (2008).jpg

From the Back Cover

Frommer's. The best trips start here.

Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer.

Insider tips from a longtime Boston resident to help you make the most of your visit.

Outspoken opinions on what's worth your time and what's not.

Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip whatever your budget.

Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.

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Marie Morris - Frommer's Boston 2009 (2008).pdf

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Neil E. Schlecht, Rich Beattie - Frommer's New Yor k State (2004).jpg

Meticulously researched by a team of expert residents who know this region intimately, Frommer's New York State (1st edition) is an extraordinary and highly personal guide to one of America’s most diverse regions.

Frommer’s New York State is packed with candid opinions on everything about New York City, but also on the beaches, antiques shops, wineries, skiing, hiking, biking, and other outdoor adventures that make up the rest of New York State. We’ve covered all the perennial favorites, from the Hamptons to Niagara Falls, but we’ll also take you off the beaten track to discover New York's best small towns and natural escapes. Whether you want a romantic getaway in an upstate B&B or family fun on Long Island's best beaches, Frommer’s will help you design the trip that’s right for you.

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Neil E. Schlecht, Rich Beattie - Frommer's New Yor k State (2004).pdf

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Wilfred M. McClay - A Student's Guide To U.S. Hi story (2000).jpg

No nation in modern history has had a more powerful sense of its own distinctiveness than the United States. Yet few Americans understand the immensely varied sources of that sense and the fascinating debates that have always swirled around our attempts to define America with greater precision. In this introduction to the study of American history, Wilfred M. McClay invites us to experience the perennial freshness and vitality of this great subject as he explores some of the enduring commitments and persistent tensions that have made America what it is. Author: Wifred M. McClayPages: 96, PaperbackPublisher

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Wilfred M. McClay - A Student's Guide To U.S. Hi story (2000).pdf

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Meghana Nayak, Eric Selbin - Decentering Internati onal Relations (2010).jpg

Decentering International Relations seeks to actively confront, resist, and rewrite International Relations (IR), a heavily politicized field that is deeply centered in the North/West and privileges certain perspectives, pedagogies, and practices. Is it possible to break the chain of signifiers that always leads IR studies back to the US and its European allies?

Through engagement with a variety of theories (ranging beyond the usual mainstream versus critical/alternative binary), conversations with scholars, activists, and students, and consultation of IR syllabi and conference proceedings, the authors invite the reader to participate in an accessible yet provocative experiment to decenter the North/West when we learn, study and do IR. In particular, they examine how the pressing issues of human rights, globalization, peace and security, and indigeneity are simultaneously normative inventions meant to sustain particular power structures and sites for insurgent and subversive attempts to live IR at the margins.

Selbin and Nayak have written a remarkable and provokative re-envisioning of a globally important subject.

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Meghana Nayak, Eric Selbin - Decentering Internati onal Relations (2010).pdf

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David Holloway - 9-11 and the War on Terror (2010).jpg

This interdisciplinary study of how 9/11 and the 'war on terror' were represented during the Bush era, shows how culture often functioned as a vital resource, for citizens attempting to make sense of momentous historical events that frequently seemed beyond their influence or control. Illustrated throughout, the book discusses representation of 9/11 and the war on terror in Hollywood film, the 9/11 novel, mass media, visual art and photography, political discourse, and revisionist historical accounts of American 'empire,' between the September 11 attacks and the Congressional midterm elections in 2006. As well as prompting an international security crisis, and a crisis in international governance and law, David Holloway suggests the culture of the time also points to a 'crisis' unfolding in the institutions and processes of republican democracy in the United States. His book offers a cultural and ideological history of the period, showing how culture was used by contemporaries to debate, legitimise, qualify, contest, or repress discussion, about the causes, consequences and broader meanings of 9/11 and the war on terror.

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Dennis Smith - Report from Ground Zero (2003).jpg

September 11th changed the face of America, but it also revealed the true face of heroism. The men of the New York Fire Department fought with courage and endurance to save others. This is their story, told by a veteran firefighter.

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Scott Christianson - Condemned, Inside the Sing Si ng Death House (2000).jpg

In the annals of American criminal justice, two prisons stand out as icons of institutionalized brutality and deprivation: Alcatraz and Sing Sing. In the 70 odd years before 1963, when the death sentence was declared unconstitutional in New York, Sing Sing was the site of almost one-half of the 1,353 executions carried out in the state. More people were executed at Sing Sing than at any other American prison, yet Sing Sing's death house was, to a remarkable extent, one of the most closed, secret and mythologized places in modern America.

In this remarkable book, based on recently revealed archival materials, Scott Christianson takes us on a disturbing and poignant tour of Sing Sing's legendary death house, and introduces us to those whose lives Sing Sing claimed. Within the dusty files were mug shots of each newly arrived prisoner, most still wearing the out-to-court clothes they had on earlier that day when they learned their verdict and were sentenced to death. It is these sometimes bewildered, sometimes defiant, faces that fill the pages of Condemned, along with the documents of their last months at Sing Sing.

The reader follows prisoners from their introduction to the rules of Sing Sing, through their contact with guards and psychiatrists, their pleas for clemency, escape attempts, resistance, and their final letters and messages before being put to death. We meet the mother of five accused of killing her husband, the two young Chinese men accused of a murder during a robbery and the drifter who doesn't remember killing at all. While the majority of inmates are everyday people, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were also executed here, as were the major figures in the infamous Murder Inc., forerunner of the American mafia. Page upon page, Condemned leaves an indelible impression of humanity and suffering.

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Scott Christianson - Condemned, Inside the Sing Si ng Death House (2000).pdf

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Frank Joseph - Zaginiona historia starożytnych Ame ryk (2006).jpg

Osady sprzed setek tysięcy lat, narzędzia do cięcia granitu bardziej precyzyjne niż diamentowa piła, monstrualne 6-metrowe niedźwiedzie, zaginieni budowniczowie Michigan z epoki brązu, supernauka w przedhiszpańskim Peru, azteckie „Naczynie Czasu”, piramidy Majów na Jawie to tylko niektóre z ukrywanych faktów, dotyczących przeszłości obu Ameryk. Odkrycia ostatnich lat dowodzą, że historia tych kontynentów była inna, niż przedstawia to oficjalna nauka.

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Giovanna Borradori - The American Philosopher (199 4).jpg

In this lively look at current debates in American philosophy, leading philosophers talk candidly about the changing character of their discipline. In the spirit of Emerson's The American Scholar, this book explores the identity of the American philosopher. Through informal conversations, the participants discuss the rise of post-analytic philosophy in America and its relations to European thought and to the American pragmatist tradition. They comment on their own intellectual development as well as each others' work, charting the course of American philosophy over the past few decades.

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Bruce Wilshire - The Primal Roots of American Phil osophy, Pragmatism, Phenomenology, and Native Amer ican Thought (2003).jpg

USA Books - Bruce Wilshire - The Primal Roots of American Philosop...atism, Phenomenology, and Native American Thought 2003.jpg

An exploration of American philosophy, connecting the work of such thinkers as Thoreau, Emerson, Dewey and James with Native American beliefs and practices. Bruce Wilshire's search is not for exact parallels, but rather for fundamental affinities.

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Bruce Wilshire - The Primal Roots of American Phil osophy, Pragmatism, Phenomenology, and Native Amer ican Thought (2003).pdf

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Laura Ling, Lisa Ling - Somewhere Inside, One Sist er's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Figh t to Bring Her Home (2010).jpeg

USA Books - Laura Ling, Lisa Ling - Somewhere Inside, One Sisters ...rth Korea and the Others Fight to Bring Her Home 2010.jpeg

On March 17, 2009, Laura Ling and her colleague Euna Lee were working on a documentary about North Korean defectors who were fleeing the desperate conditions in their homeland. While filming on the Chinese–North Korean border, they were chased down by North Korean soldiers who violently apprehended them. Laura and Euna were charged with trespassing and "hostile acts," and imprisoned by Kim Jong Il's notoriously secretive Communist state. Kept totally apart, they endured months of interrogations and eventually a trial before North Korea's highest court. They were the first Americans ever to be sentenced to twelve years of hard labor in a prison camp in North Korea.
When news of the arrest reached Laura's sister, journalist Lisa Ling, she immediately began a campaign to get her sister released, one that led her from the State Department to the higher echelons of the media world and eventually to the White House.
Somewhere Inside reveals for the first time Laura's gripping account of what really happened on the river, her treatment at the hands of North Korean guards, and the deprivations and rounds of harrowing interrogations she endured. She speaks movingly about the emotional toll inflicted on her by her incarceration, including the measures she took to protect her sources and her fears that she might never see her family again.
Lisa writes about her unrelenting efforts to secure Laura and Euna's release. Offering insights into the vast media campaign spearheaded on the women's behalf, Lisa also takes us deep into the drama involving people at the highest levels of government, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Senator John Kerry, and Governor Bill Richardson—intense discussions that entailed strategically balancing the agendas and good intentions of the various players. She also describes her role in the back-and-forth between North Korea's demands and the dramatic rescue by former President Bill Clinton.
Though they were thousands of miles apart while Laura was in captivity, the Ling sisters' relationship became a way for the reclusive North Korean government to send messages to the United States government, which helped lead to Laura and Euna's eventual release.
Told in the sisters' alternating voices, Somewhere Inside is a timely, inspiring, and page-turning tale of survival set against the canvas of international politics that goes beyond the headlines to reveal the impact on lives engulfed by forces beyond their control. But it is also a window into the unique bond these two sisters have always shared, a bond that sustained them throughout the most horrifying ordeal of their lives.

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Mckay Jenkins - The White Death, Tragedy and Heroi sm in an Avalanche Zone (2001).jpg

By turns gripping, informative, and even frightening, The White Death probes the interplay of human endeavor in the mountains, the fragile beauty of snow, and nature's mysterious power. Jenkins succeeds admirably in melding human drama with the indifference of natural forces, allowing the "avalanche-beast" to build in character through survivors' reports, news clippings, and scientific findings. The book's emotional centerpiece is the tragic story of an avalanche that roared down Mount Cleveland in Glacier National Park, where five young climbers set out to scale the treacherous North Face. Just days into their climb, snow and strong winds set in. "What they saw could not have been inviting: snow clouds covered the mountain's summit...with loose powder avalanches regularly scrubbing it clean." Bud Anderson, older brother to one of the climbers, flew his single-engine plane over the mountain to observe the team's progress. "He hoped, perhaps, to rock his wings at them as a sign of encouragement, or congratulations." Instead, "his breath caught. The tracks ended at the unmistakable edge of a massive fresh avalanche..." Jenkins's stirring account pieces the clues and rescue efforts together to read like a true and terrible mystery being solved.
The horror of being buried alive by snow is vivid and sober among these pages, and is sure to chill climbers as well as those reading from the comforts of central heating. The author's vision is acute and helps better assess the bounds of our human capacity and domain.

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Max Wilk - The Making of The Sound of Music (2007).jpg

The Sound of Music was the last--and most successful--collaboration of two giants of the musical theater, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Enjoying a long run on Broadway and then transformed into a major hit film--recently reissued in a 40th anniversary edition on DVD with new footage--The Sound of Music remains among the most produced musicals by professional and amateur companies around the world.

This book tells the full story of the making of the show, from the first rough ideas through the tryouts, fine tuning, and eventual triumph--all from an eyewitness to the events themselves. Wilk brings a musical theater historian's eye to the work, along with his passionate involvement as a witness to this history. For anyone and everyone who has ever thrilled to The Sound of Music, this book will be a must.

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