America A to Z: People, Places, Customs & Culture

by Reader's Digest Association

A parade of fun facts, fantastic photographs, and inside information, gathered together in an all-American celebration.Stretching from the White House's Rose Garden to Hollywood's back lots, "America A To Z" is a panorama of Americana. More than 1000 alphabetically arranged entries bring to light little-known facts, hidden histories, and sometimes strange stories about familiar people, places, events, inventions, fads, foods, and much more. Hundreds of illustrations -- including vintage photographs and woodcuts, drawings by well-known artists like Norman Rockwell, and portraits of movie stars, writers, entertainers, politicians, and other public figures -- enhance every page.

"America A To Z" reveals the origins of everything from blue jeans to hot dog buns, the Boy Scouts to the League of Women Voters. It introduces the heroes of the Alamo, the occupants of the Oval Office, the denizens of the locker rooms in every sport, and the men and women who have exercised their creative genius in laboratories, automobile factories, and fashion showrooms, on typewriters and piano keyboards. Readers will peek behind the scenes at the FBI and the Mall of America, get the inside scoop on Walter Winchell, and find out what Paul Revere really shouted on his ride through Boston, which children's author got his start writing advertising copy, and who invented Lincoln Logs.

A great family reference, "America A To Z" makes it fun for kids to look up facts, for adults to journey down memory lane, and for everyone to get a close up look at America's rich and diverse history and culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Travel

416 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 1997

About the author

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global media and direct marketing company based in Chappaqua, New York, best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company's headquarters are in New York City, where it moved from Pleasantville, New York.

The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.

Reviews

[Jahari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book . It was a collection of fun facts and trivia about our nation. You could be reading about the Looney Tunes then you could be reading about the Cold War so many different topics put into one it was a a nerds paradise.

[Belle Meade School]

973.03

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun look at our country in this old book

[Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I think this book it's good for us. why do I borrow it? Because I love history, so I'd love to borrow this kind of books.
This story it's my favorite story in the part that I read.
Flying tigers,

In 1941 a band of mercenary pilots secretary formed the American volunteer group in Burma. The daredevil fighting unit was part of an ambitious plan to help China defend her skies without officially involving the United States military in combat. The pilots were led by retired Air Force general Claire Chennault, who taught them to pass,shoot, and break away," and scrutinized their training maneuvers from a rickety bamboo tower. They went into action as the flying tigers, protecting Rangoon and Kunming, the terminus of the Burma Road. Their P-40 Tomahawks swooped close enough to enemy planes for the Japanese to get a good look at the jagged shark's tenth painted on their noses. Because they had fewer than 50 planes in flying order at any given time, the pilots resorted to changing the numbers on their fuselages at frequent intervals and giving orders over the radio to imaginary squadrons to make the Japanese think they were outnumbered. In seven months the flying tigers destroyed about 300 Japanese aircraft, boosting morale back home at a time when Japan's airpower seemed unstoppable.

I love this story, because it told me a history. And this story is among Japan, America, and China. I hope everyone read this story and you will know when you use your brain to think about everything will be good. You should think about and change your ideas everywhere anytime.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nicely illustrated book of American trivia that covers nearly every aspect of American culture. Of course, I especially like it because it's organized alphabetically--easy access--fun to browse through.

[Cws]

rEFya1