Theres something fascinating about border towns. Who hasnt crossed the line into another state to buy fireworks, gamble, or even to get married? Here are border towns with names as unique as the places themselves, names that bridge the boundaries.Robert D. Temple brings you a quirky, fascinating, and wholly entertaining look at more than eighty North American border towns in Edge Effects. With an adventurers heart and a historians keen eye, Temple explores life on the edge and how ...

From Alexander von Humboldt to Charles and Anne Lindbergh, these are stories of people of great vision and daring whose achievements continue to inspire us today, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough.The bestselling author of Truman and John Adams, David McCullough has written profiles of exceptional men and women past and present who have not only shaped the course of history or changed how we see the world but whose stories expr...

“Gracefully written . . . thoroughly researched . . . America is a banquet prepared by the Indians—who were forgotten when it was time to give thanks at the table.”—St. Paul Pioneer-Express“Well written, imagery-ridden . . . A tale of what was, what became, and what is today regarding the Indian relation to the European civilization that ‘grafted’ itself onto this ‘ancient stem’”—Minneapolis Star TribuneIn Indian Giver...

What begins as a road trip through America soon becomes a journey of discovery into themselves and into the heart of the next-door neighbour they thought they knew. For Wayne Grady, the thrill of landscape and history is tempered by memories of racism and his own family roots. Merilyn Simonds, her ear tuned for the offbeat, finds curious echoes of the ex-pat promised land she grew up with. Together they travel against the tide of American history, followin...

A New York Times bestseller: This portrait of the United States at the beginning of World War II is "an unexpected and welcome discovery in a time capsule" ( The Washington Post).In nearly three thousand BBC broadcasts over fifty-eight years, Alistair Cooke reported on America, illuminating our country for a global audience. Shortly before he passed away, a long-forgotten manuscript resurfaced in a closet in his New York apartment. It was a travel...

A fascinating account of how the Mississippi River shaped AmericaIn Old Man River, Paul Schneider tells the story of the river at the center of America's rich history—the Mississippi. Some fifteen thousand years ago, the majestic river provided Paleolithic humans with the routes by which early man began to explore the continent's interior. Since then, the river has been the site of historical significance, from the arrival of Spanish and French explorers in...

Join Uncle John as he treks through every one of America’s National Parks!If you like the great outdoors, you’re going to love this book. We’re plunging into every national park, monument, site, and trail (more than 150 in all!) in true Uncle John fashion and uncovering some unique stories behind all of them. You’re sure to find hidden facets of each national park that you never imagined. Read about...* Yosemite’s firefall and why it came to a sudden end

An ode to our national parks, timed for the centennial, by the beloved author of When Women Were Birds.Longlisted for an Andrew Carnegie Medal for ExcellenceA Washington Post Notable Book of the YearAmerica's national parks are breathing spaces in a world in which such spaces are steadily disappearing, which is why more than 300 million people visit the parks each year. Now Terry Tempest Williams, the author of the e...

In the tradition of Ian Frazier's Great Plains, and as vivid as the work of Cormac McCarthy, an intoxicating, singularly illuminating history of the Texas borderlands from their settlement through seven generations of Roger D. Hodge's ranching family.What brought the author's family to Texas? What is it about Texas that for centuries has exerted a powerful allure for adventurers and scoundrels, dreamers and desperate souls, outlaws and outliers? In search ...

As a midlife challenge, author Steve Ritter decided to leave the comforts of home and the daily routine of his office and set out on an epic journey to bicycle across the United States. Ritter wanted to rediscover his rural roots, explore nature, immerse himself in the rich history of his country, and find out if he still had the endurance of his youth. He wanted to see what other people did every day as he sat at his desk.In A Bike across America, he narrates the story of his thir...

An adventurous Englishman explores the forgotten landscape of America's Wild West in this "illuminating, elegantly written travelogue" ( Financial Times).In his acclaimed memoir Swan River, David Reynolds invited readers into the world of his youth, growing up in Manitoba, Canada. Now, in Slow Road to Brownsville, Reynolds brings readers on a road trip along Highway 83, a little-known two-lane highway that runs from his Canadian hometown ...

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors-many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures-were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ral...