This account of US history from the bottom up tells the real story of the people, rather than the flag-waving official story.

Presents the story of the year of the birth of the United States of America. This book tells two stories: how a group of squabbling, disparate colonies became the United States, and how the British Empire tried to stop them. It features a cast of amazing characters from George III to George Washington, to soldiers and their families.

After nearly two decades in England, Bill Bryson returned to the country of his birth. Gathered here are 18 months' worth of his Mail on Sunday columns about that strange phenomena, the American way of life, in which he brings his bemused wit to bear on one of the world's craziest countries.

An account of one man's rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town. Instead he finds a continent that is doubly lost: lost to itself because it is blighted by greed, pollution, mobile homes and television; and lost to him because he has become a foreigner in his own country.

American democracy is the world's most beloved form of government, which is why so many other nations are eager for it to be imposed on them. But just what exactly is it? Jon Stewart and his fellow patriots from the Emmy-winning The Daily Show finally deliver the answer. They offer their insights into a unique system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes,

Tocqueville examines the structures, institution and operation of democracy, and analyzes the lessons that Europe could learn from American successes and failures. It continues to be an influential text on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe.

From the author of Notes from a Small Island and The Lost Continent comes this humorous report on his walk along the Appalachian Trail. The Trail is the longest continuous footpath in the world, and it snakes through some of the wildest and most spectacular landscapes in America.

Written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, this multiple biography studies Abraham Lincoln's mastery of men. It shows how he saved Civil War-torn America by appointing his fiercest rivals to key cabinet positions, making them help achieve his vision for peace.

By the author of Band of Brothers , this title recounts the colourful characters involved with the opening of the American West, beginning with the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1803. Drama, suspense, danger and diplomacy combine with romance and personal tragedy.

Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, this work explores with humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties.

Huckleberry Finn had a tough life with his drunk father until an adventure with Tom Sawyer changed everything. But when Huck's dad returns and kidnaps him, he must escape down the Mississippi river with runaway slave, Jim. They encounter trouble at every turn, from floods and gunfights to armed bandits and the long arm of the law.

Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty level wages. Journalist Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them in order to find out how anyone survives on six dollars an hour. So began a gruelling, hair-raising and darkly funny odyssey though the underworld of working America.

Tells you things you need to know about how the great and the good put one over on us. This title is suitable for those who wonder why politicians and big business are lying to them and wanted to know how they get away with it.

Tells the story of a seventeen-year-old dropout who has been kicked out of his fourth school. This novel dissects the 'phony' aspects of society, and the 'phonies' themselves: the headmaster whose affability depends on the wealth of the parents, his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection.

A history of the American Civil War starting with an account of the years preceding it and its causes. It discusses slavery, the two sides of the war, the international dimension, the position and role of the free blacks and slaves, the end of the war and reconstruction.

In 1960, the author set out to rediscover his native land. He felt that he might have lost touch with its sights, sounds and the essence of its people. Accompanied only by his dog, Charley, he travelled all across the United States in a pick-up truck. His journey took him through almost forty states. This book collects what he saw and experienced.

Features the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs, with Sal Paradise and his hero Dean Moriarty, traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat.

A Pulitzer-winning study of the intertwined lives of the founders of America: Adams, Burr, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison and Washington. It argues that the checks and balances permitting the infant republic to endure were primarily rooted in the interaction of leaders with diverse values.