National Geographic’s double-sided wall map, paper version, presenting on one side The American War of Independence 1775
- 1783,
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Whether you`re a business person visiting for a week or a foreign student visiting for a semester, American Ways, A Cultural Guide to the United States covers all your basic needs-from the trends & customs of day-to-day activities to the more esoteric customs regarding cultural values, politics, education, religion & relationships. In this revised edition, Gary Althen & Janet Bennett have added material that provides the clearest insights yet into the American psyche & culture, reflecting many of the monumental changes that have occurred since the previous edition`s publication. The authors discuss the lasting effects of the Bush-administration policies & controversies as well as the impact of the nation`s first black president. An updated chapter on social relationships & the effect that networking sites such as Twitter & Facebook have had on meeting people & creating friendships is also included. American Ways helps any newcomer to the U.S. make an easier transition. ...

As the railroads opened up the American West to settlers in the last half of the 19th Century, the Plains Indians made their final stand & cattle ranches spread from Texas to Montana. Eminent Western author Dee Brown here illuminates the struggle between these three groups as they fought for a place in this new landscape. The result is both a spirited national saga & an authoritative historical account of the drive for order in an uncharted wilderness, illustrated throughout with maps, photographs & ephemera from the period. ...

The bible of American whiskeys, bourbons, & ryes has been updated! Arranged alphabetically by distillery & then br&, this expanded & revised edition offers histories, ratings, & tasting notes for over 300 whiskeys
- with more than 100 entirely new entries. Each section

Includes:: the contact information of the featured maker, along with its various products. In addition to finding out how to get the best value for your money, you`ll learn how to read a label, how to buy whiskey, which whiskey to give as a gift, & a full account of each bottling, including: age, proof, nose, colour, body, palate, & price. Discerning drinkers will savour their newfound knowledge!


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Prosperous, good-looking & empty inside, 28-year-old advertising executive David Bell appears on the surface to have everything. But he is a man on the brink of losing his sanity. Trapped in a Manhattan office with soulless sycophants as his only company, he makes an abrupt decision to leave New York for America`s mid-west. His plan: to film the small-town lives of ordinary people & make contact with the true heart of his homel&. But as Bell puts his films together in his hotel room, he grows increasingly convinced that there is no heart to find. Modern America has become a land that has reached the end of its reel. ...

From the award-winning author of ' Half of a Yellow Sun, ' a powerful story of love, race & identity. As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu & Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, & people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats & triumphs, finds & loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, & he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger. But after so long apart & so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face? Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents & numerous lives, ' Americanah' is a richly told story of love & expectation set in today's globalized world. ...

From the award-winning author of ` Half of a Yellow Sun, ` a powerful story of love, race & identity. As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu & Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, & people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats & triumphs, finds & loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, & he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger. But after so long apart & so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face? Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents & numerous lives, ` Americanah` is a richly told story of love & expectation set in today`s globalized world. ...

As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu & Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, & people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats & triumphs, finds & loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, & he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger. But after so long apart & so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face? Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents & numerous lives, the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning ` Americanah` is a richly told story of love & expectation set in today`s globalized world. ...

An elegantly written & highly informative account of a group of Americans living in Paris when the city fell to the Nazis in June 1940. In the early hours of 14 June 1940, Nazi troops paraded through the streets of Paris, marking the beginning of the city`s four-year occupation. French troops withdrew in order to avoid a battle & the potential destruction of their capital. It wasn`t long before German tanks rumbled past the Arc de Triomphe & down the Champs Elysees to the Place de la Concorde. The American community in Paris was the largest in Continental Europe, totalling Approx. 30, 000 before the Second World War. Although Ambassodor Bullitt advised those without vital business in the city to leave in 1939, over half of the Americans in Paris chose to stay. Many had professional & family ties to the city; the majority, though, had a peculiarly American love for the city, rooted in the bravery of the Marquis de la Fayette & the 17, 000 Frenchmen who volunteered to fight for American independence in 1776. An eclectic group, they included black soldiers from the Harlem Hellfighters, who were determined not to return to the racial segregation that they faced at home, rich socialites like Peggy Guggenheim & Florence Jay Gould, as well as painters, musicians, bankers & businessmen. There were those whose lives went on as if the Germans were ephemera, those who collaborated & those, like Dr Sumner Jackson & Etta Shiber, who worked underground for the resistance movement. This is a book about adventure, intrigue, passion & deceit, & one which follows its characters into the Maquis, the concentration camps & overseas. Filled with a huge amount of new analysis on the Second World War, ` Americans in Paris` is a fascinating, revealing & moving read. ...

As many as 15, 000 covered bridges were built in North America over the past 200 years. Fewer than 1, 000 remain. In America`s Covered Bridges, authors Terry E. Miller & Ronald G. Knapp tell the fascinating story of these bridges, how they were built, the technological breakthroughs required to construct them & above all the dedication & skill of their builders. Each wooden bridge, whether still standing or long gone, has a story to tell about the nature of America at the time not only about its transportational needs, but the availability of materials & the technological prowess of the people who built it. Illustrated with some 550 historical & contemporary photos, paintings, & technical drawings of nearly 400 different covered bridges, America`s Covered Bridges offers five readable chapters on the history, design & fate of America`s covered bridges, plus related bridges in Canada. Most of the contemporary photography is by master photographer A. Chester Ong of Hong Kong.55 photo essays on the most iconic bridges remaining, including: Cornish-Windsor Bridge between Vermont & New Hampshire Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Maine East Paden & West Paden (Twin Bridges), Pennsylvania Philippi Bridge, West Virginia Hortons Mill Bridge, Alabama Medora Bridge, Indiana Rock Mill Bridge, Ohio Knight`s Ferry Bridge, California Perrault Bridge, Quebec, Canada Hartland Bridge, New Brunswick, Canada Over time, wooden bridges eventually gave way to ones made from iron, steel & concrete. An American icon, many covered bridges became obsolete & were replaced others simply decayed & collapsed. Many more were swept away by natural disasters & fires. America`s Covered Bridges is absolutely packed with fascinating stories & information passionately told by two leading experts on this subject. The book will be of tremendous interest to anyone interested in American history, carpentry & technological change. ...