Book picks similar to
America: Land of Beauty and Splendor by Reader's Digest Association
non-fiction
reference
not-read
geography
Off the Tourist Trail: 1,000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives
Sadie Smith - 2009
It takes a hundred clichéd tourist destinations - everything from over-visited national parks to overrated museums - and reveal 1,000 fresh and fascinating alternative options. Written by a team of travel experts, and with a foreword by Bill Bryson, this book brings vibrant cities, enchanting sights, breathtaking natural wonders and unforgettable experiences to life with informative narrative and stunning photography. Choose your destination by theme - Ancient and Historical Sights, Festivals and Parties, Great Journeys, Architectural Marvels, Natural Wonders, Beaches, Sports and Activities, Art and Culture, and Cities - or simply flick through this sumptuous guide and be inspired. Practical advice on getting there and around, where to stay, where to eat and when to go, as well as useful 'Need to Know' facts, ensure that you get the most out of your time away. Less crowded, generally less expensive, and often more spectacular and rewarding, these lesser-known wonders of the world encourage readers to ditch the famous but well-worn choices, reminding them what real travel is all about - escaping the everyday and embracing the new. Vacations will never be the same again.
Walking London
Sara Calian - 2012
Part of a brand-new series from National Geographic that showcases the world's great cities, Walking London is divided into the following sections: The Whirlwind Tours section shows you how to see the entire city in a day or a weekend; what sights will interest kids most; plus, a hedonist's tour that's pure pleasure from dawn to midnight and beyond.The Neighborhoods section of the book presents the city broken down into 15-odd itineraries that lead you on a step-by-step tour to the best sights in each of the city's greatest neighborhoods--from The City and Westminster to Kensington and Knightbridge.Travel Essentials provides information on how to get to the city and how to get around, as well as hand-picked hotels and restaurants.Each itinerary includes the following features: Distinctly London: Explore the city through 2-page features that showcase the quintessential aspects of the city, such as Royal London, Shakespeare London, and London Pubs: Here you'll get intriguing background information to help you understand why this city is one of the world's greatest. Best of: Specific thematic groupings of sights are described, such as ancient markets, posh shopping, and London clubs. In-depth: These spreads take a deep dive into a major museum or other sight--Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, the National Gallery--providing step-by-step guidance on what to see and how to plan your visit.Sidebars throughout give you the lowdown on shopping, eating, and going out on the town, offering insider tips and interesting asides.
On the Road with Charles Kuralt
Charles Kuralt - 1985
Taking to the highways, he has met the little-known and the famous, and shared them with the rest of us. This heartwarming book reminds us again of some of the extraordinary people he has met over the years in words and photographs, and provides the exact words of the interviews, so that we can permanently enjoy his visits with people we have come to know and care for, again and again.
Original Highways: Travelling the Great Rivers of Canada
Roy MacGregor - 2017
From the mouth of the Fraser River in BC, to the Bow in Alberta, the Red in Manitoba, the Gatineau, the Saint John and the most historic of all Canada's rivers, the St. Lawrence, our beloved chronicler of Canadian life, Roy MacGregor, has paddled, sailed and traversed their lengths, learned their stories and secrets, and the tales of centuries lived on their rapids and riverbanks. He raises lost tales, like that of the Great Tax Revolt of the Gatineau River, and reconsiders histories like that of the Irish would-be settlers who died on Grosse Ile and the incredible resilience of settlers in the Red River Valley. Along the Grand, the Ottawa and others, he meets the successful conservationists behind the resuscitation of polluted wetlands, including even Toronto's Don, the most abused river in Canada (where he witnesses families of mink, returned to play on its banks). Long before our national railroad was built, our rivers held Canada together; in these sixteen portraits, filled with yesterday's adventures and tomorrow's promise, MacGregor weaves together a story of Canada and its ongoing relationship with its most precious resource.
Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age
Annalee Newitz - 2021
In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii on Italy’s southern coast, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today.Newitz travels to all four sites and investigates the cutting-edge research in archaeology, revealing the mix of environmental changes and political turmoil that doomed these ancient settlements. Tracing the early development of urban planning, Newitz also introduces us to the often anonymous workers—slaves, women, immigrants, and manual laborers—who built these cities and created monuments that lasted millennia.Four Lost Cities is a journey into the forgotten past, but, foreseeing a future in which the majority of people on Earth will be living in cities, it may also reveal something of our own fate.
Ultimate Navigation Manual
Lyle Brotherton - 2011
Designed to allow even the absolute beginner to find their way anywhere in the world, it also develops a unique confidence in navigation – with or without technical aids.With a preface by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, contents will also include:Environmental clues – Using the natural environment to navigateMaps – An introduction to the different types of mapsThe Compass and North – How compasses work, how to use them and how to choose the right oneMap and Compass Navigation – twenty-five easy-to-learn skills are describedRelocation Procedures – What to do when lost, dealing with well-known relocation procedures and some ground-breaking new onesStellar Navigation – Simple methods that are easy to learnGNSS (GPS) Navigation – Why Global Satellite Navigation Systems are the most significant advance in navigation since the invention of the magnetic compass; details all of the systems now available, including the American GPSSpecialist environments and equipment – Which techniques are best, where and how to use them in environments such as the Arctic, coastal areas, desert regions, jungles or forests, mountains and urban areasWritten by one of the world's leading search and rescue consultants and highly illustrated with specially commissioned photographs designed to emphasise navigation problems – this is the ultimate guide to not losing your way.
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic
Alberto Manguel - 1980
Here you will find Shangri-La and El Dorado; Utopia and Middle Earth; Wonderland and Freedonia. Here too are Jurassic Park, Salman Rushdie's Sea of Stories, and the fabulous world of Harry Potter. The history and behavior of the inhabitants of these lands are described in loving detail, and are supplemented by more than 200 maps and illustrations that depict the lay of the land in a host of elsewheres. A must-have for the library of every dedicated reader, fantasy fan, or passionate browser, Dictionary is a witty and acute guide for any armchair traveler's journey into the landscape of the imagination.
Road Scholar: Coast To Coast Late in the Century
Andrei Codrescu - 1993
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year in Hyperion hardcover.
A Walk Across America
Peter Jenkins - 1979
This is the book he wrote about that journey -- a classic account of the reawakening of his faith in himself and his country."I started out searching for myself and my country," Peter Jenkins writes, "and found both." In this timeless classic, Jenkins describes how disillusionment with society in the 1970s drove him out onto the road on a walk across America. His experiences remain as sharp and telling today as they were twenty-five years ago -- from the timeless secrets of life, learned from a mountain-dwelling hermit, to the stir he caused by staying with a black family in North Carolina, to his hours of intense labor in Southern mills. Many, many miles later, he learned lessons about his country and himself that resonate to this day -- and will inspire a new generation to get out, hit the road and explore.
Vietnam: A History
Stanley Karnow - 1983
Free of ideological bias, profound in its undertsanding, and compassionate in its human portrayals, it is filled with fresh revelations drawn from secret documents and from exclusive interviews with participants-French, American, Vietnamese, Chinese: diplomats, military commanders, high government officials, journalists, nurses, workers, and soldiers. Originally published a companion to the Emmy-winning PBS series, Karnow’s defining book is a precursor to Ken Burns’s ten-part forthcoming documentary series, The Vietnam War. Vietnam: A History puts events and decisions into such sharp focus that we come to understand – and make peace with – a convulsive epoch of our recent history.
I Am America (And So Can You!)
Stephen ColbertPeter Grosz - 2007
I Am America (And So Can You!) contains all of the opinions that Stephen doesn't have time to shoehorn into his nightly broadcast.Dictated directly into a microcassette recorder over a three-day weekend, this book contains Stephen's most deeply held knee-jerk beliefs on The American Family, Race, Religion, Sex, Sports, and many more topics, conveniently arranged in chapter form.Always controversial and outspoken, Stephen addresses why Hollywood is destroying America by inches, why evolution is a fraud, and why the elderly should be harnessed to millstones.You may not agree with everything Stephen says, but at the very least, you'll understand that your differing opinion is wrong.I Am America (And So Can You!) showcases Stephen Colbert at his most eloquent and impassioned. He is an unrelenting fighter for the soul of America, and in this book he fights the good fight for the traditional values that have served this country so well for so long.Please buy this book before you leave the store.About the AuthorStephen Colbert is America.Description from book jacket
A History of the American People
Paul Johnson - 1997
"No other national story holds such tremendous lessons, for the American people themselves and for the rest of mankind."In his prize-winning classic, Johnson presents an in-depth portrait of American history from the first colonial settlements to the Clinton administration. This is the story of the men and women who shaped and led the nation and the ordinary people who collectively created its unique character. Littered with letters, diaries, and recorded conversations, it details the origins of their struggles for independence and nationhood, their heroic efforts and sacrifices to deal with the 'organic sin’ of slavery and the preservation of the Union to its explosive economic growth and emergence as a world power. Johnson discusses contemporary topics such as the politics of racism, education, the power of the press, political correctness, the growth of litigation, and the influence of women throughout history. He sees Americans as a problem-solving people and the story of their country as "essentially one of difficulties being overcome by intelligence and skill, by faith and strength of purpose, by courage and persistence... Looking back on its past, and forward to its future, the auguries are that it will not disappoint humanity."Sometimes controversial and always provocative, A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE is one author’s challenging and unique interpretation of American history. Johnson’s views of individuals, events, themes, and issues are original, critical, and in the end admiring, for he is, above all, a strong believer in the history and the destiny of the American people.
RSPB Birds of Britain and Europe
Rob Hume - 2002
Illustrated throughout, this handbook of birds covers the most common British and European birds in detail.
London (Eyewitness Travel Guide)
Michael Leapman - 2006
Unearthing the best of the city's stunning architecture, palaces and parks, west-end musicals, world-class art galleries and museums in between, there are 3D aerial views of London's most interesting districts, cutaways and floor-plans of all the major sites, and detailed listings of the best hotels and restaurants in London for all budgets. The guide includes four 'Great Days Out' and extensive practical information including insider tips on where to find London's best shops and markets, traditional pubs and the goldmine of fun to be found for children. Whether you're taking a thrilling 'flight' on the London Eye or gazing at the crown jewels at the Tower of London, there is detailed background on everything from Kings and Queens to where to see Roman, Medieval, Elizabethan and Victorian London as well as several guided walks of varied character.