<DIV><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">Few countries around the world offer the variety of landscapes and ecosystems that the United States does, representing everything from desert to mountains to seashore to wide rolling plains.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">Equally fascinating American cities are full of ethnic enclaves, famous neighborhoods from Hollywood to Harlem and landmarks recognizable around the world. The national park system of the United States comprises 84 million acres of land; the country is home to more than 17,000 museums large and small.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">Packed with striking photographs, this book presents both impressive manmade sights like the Brooklyn Bridge, the world’s longest suspension bridge when it was completed in 1883, and natural wonders like the 277-mile long Grand Canyon.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">More intimate settings are explored as well, including Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum and the Live Oak Friends Meeting House in Texas with its single work of art, the meditative Skyspace.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">A brief text and captions provide background and history about subjects such as the great battles of the American Revolution and the inspirational activism of the civil rights era.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">From jazz to baseball to drive-ins, the inventive spirit of this relatively young nation never lets up, and this volume matches that energy. This is a book as big, bold and beautiful as the country it covers.</p></div>