Books
Being Muslim in America
The young women pictured on our cover are both Muslim. They live near Detroit, Michigan, in a community with many Arab-American residents. Each expresses her faith in her own way, with a combination of traditional and modern dress. Here, they compete fiercely on the basketball court in a sport that blends individual skills and team effort. They - along with the other men, women, and children in this publication - demonstrate every day what it is like to be Muslim in America.
Abraham Lincoln: A Legacy of Freedom
The year 2009 marks the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s 16th president, and the man often considered its greatest leader. As the United States endured its greatest crisis, this self-educated common man supplied the leadership and the moral force that bound Americans together and carried them to victory. His vision spanned diplomacy and military strategy, political thought and elemental justice for all Americans --- including the African-American slaves he emancipated. The essays gathered here introduce readers to this “best and most widely acclaimed of all Americans.”
Obama in His Own Words
These pages share President Obama’s words with our global readership. This book includes the complete text of the 44th President’s Inaugural Address. Also featured are extended excerpts from eight other significant campaign and pre-presidential speeches. It is our hope that while the book itself is small, readers will discover that the vision captured in its pages is large. NEW! Receive daily highlights from this title. Point your web browser or mobile device to twitter.com/americagovprint.
Dreams of Edgar Allan Poe
Dreams of Edgar Allan Poe honors a giant of American literature. An essay by the acclaimed novelist and critic Diane Johnson explores Poe’s life and career. Excerpts from audio dramatizations bring 6 classic Poe stories to life. Formatted as a stylish PDF file, this special web publication is suitable for printing and framing.
Free At Last - The U.S. Civil Rights Movement
This book recounts how African-American slaves and their descendants struggled to win — both in law and in practice — the civil rights enjoyed by other Americans. It is a story of dignified persistence and struggle, a story that produced great heroes and heroines, and one that ultimately succeeded by forcing Americans to confront squarely the shameful gap between their universal principles of equality and justice and the inequality, injustice, and oppression faced by millions of their fellow citizens
Sketchbook USA
Sketchbook USA lavishly illustrates many aspects of American life. These excerpts depict Americans at work, at play, and engaging in civic activities. View the entire Sketchbook USA and all its many photographs here.
Barack Obama: 44th President of the United States
Barack Obama, elected the 44th President of the United States, has lived a truly American life, and has opened a new chapter in American politics. This publication tells the story of Obama’s life, describes how he captured the presidency, and portrays his vision for the future. It also introduces readers to the Obama family and to the new Vice President, Joseph Biden.
USA Education In Brief
USA Education in Brief covers the development of the public school movement, beginning with "common school," (the iconic little red schoolhouse) in the 18th century, through the Land-Grant university movement to the G.I. Bill of Rights and the civil rights movement which expanded educational opportunity to all U.S. citizens. Additional topics include 21st century challenges; civic, bilingual, and special education; foreign exchanges; and teaching democracy to a new generation.
American Popular Music
American popular music is a kaleidoscopic mélange of styles and dreams. Its vibrancy reflects the mating of cultural diversity to artistic and creative freedom. The stories in this book illustrate how Americans, borrowing from diverse musical traditions, have contributed to humanity’s universal language.
Human Rights in Brief
In all civilized nations, attempts are made to defi ne and buttress human rights. The core of the concept is the same everywhere: Human rights are the rights that one has simply because one is human. They are universal and equal. Human rights are also inalienable. They may be suspended, rightly or wrongly, at various places and times, but the idea of inherent rights cannot be taken away. One can no more lose these rights than one can stop being a human being.
Writers on America
Presents 15 essays by a diverse group of contemporary American writers, poets, essayists, and intellectuals, on how being an American has affected their decision to write and what they have written during successful careers. Their meditations illuminate in an interesting way certain American values — freedom, diversity, democracy, in the context of individual development. Frequently, for this group of writers, the sense of home means an immigrant culture, with a parent or grandparent from another land; however, the central concept for many of these authors, no matter what their backgrounds, is "possibility," both in personal and creative terms.
Outline of the U.S. Government
What makes U.S. government uniquely American...its Constitution, the separation of powers, the concept of “checks and balances,” the decentralized roles of state and local governments, and a citizenry with wide opportunity to be part of it all.
Rights of the People
"Rights of the People" is a history of American law and justice, written by Constitutional historian Melvin Urofsky. By focusing on the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, and the legal interpretations, many of them written by America's finest jurists, that refined and expanded the Bill of Rights, Urofsky presents a history of the United States from the standpoint of individual liberty.
Art on the Edge
Democracy in Brief
Democracy in Brief gives a concise account of the intellectual origins, history, and basic values of democratic systems of government. The book touches on topics such as rights and responsibilities of citizens, free and fair elections, the rule of law, the role of a written constitution, separation of powers, a free media, the role of parties and interest groups, military-civilian relations and democratic culture.
Rachel Carson: Pen Against Poison
Rachel Carson was a quiet woman who stirred extraordinary controversy that persists decades after her death. Her 1962 book Silent Spring brought worldwide attention to the harm to human health and the environment wrought by mishandling of a powerful pesticide, fomenting the environmental movement. In the 100th anniversary year of Carson's birth, this publication examines how occasionally in history a book with a powerful idea can bring about peaceful but dramatic change in a democratic society.
Outline of U.S. Legal System
This Outline covers the history and organization of the federal and state judicial systems; the criminal and civil court processes; the background, qualifications, and selection of federal judges; the role of other participants (lawyers, defendants, interest groups) in the judicial process; and the implementation and impact of judicial policies.
Focus On: Intellectual Property Rights
Essays by government, academic, and industry experts introduce intellectual property rights issues and key concepts -- patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and new forms of IP. Articles also explain why countries need effective intellectual property systems, and what governments in each region are doing to enforce IPR. Includes a glossary of IP terms, a list of print and Internet IP resources, and a separate resource list for children and young adults.
Outline of American Literature
The Outline of American literature, newly revised, traces the paths of American narrative, fiction, poetry and drama as they move from pre-colonial times into the present, through such literary movements as romanticism, realism and experimentation.
Justice for All: The Legacy of Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall stands as one of the great American heroes of the 20th century: He was the attorney who ended legal segregation in the United States with his victory in the Brown v. Board of Education case, and the U.S. Supreme Court justice who championed expanded rights for every individual American -- minorities, women, and immigrants, among many others.
About America: How the U.S. is Governed
This joint publication of the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs and Braddock Communications presents a comprehensive yet easy-to-read overview of the various levels of and institutions related to government in the U.S. "How the United States Is Governed" describes how federal, state, and local governments are elected, how they operate, and how the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government relate under the U.S. constitutional system. It also highlights how nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other institutions allow Americans to influence and shape government policy. This publication contains a glossary and a list of useful Web sites.
Women of Influence
This collection chronicles how 21 notable American women broke new ground, some by championing equal rights for all and others by their accomplishments in fields such as government, literature, and even in war.
USA Map with Facts in Brief
This publication includes plenty of facts and statistics about the United States -- its government, geography, environment, sports and entertainment, the economy and employment, education, transportation, and population.
Handbook of Independent Journalism
This handbook covers the ins and outs of what every professional journalist should know — from how to research, write, and edit a story to how to write headlines, choose graphics, and select quotes and sound bites. Print, radio, TV, and Web-based or online journalism forms are discussed in detail, as well as the skills required in beat reporting.
USA Literature in Brief
USA Literature in Brief pinpoints and describes the contributions to American literature of some of the best-recognized American poets, novelists, philosophers and dramatists from pre-Colonial days through the present.
USA Elections in Brief
A background guide to the entire U.S. electoral system, from federal, state, local, and primary elections to related topics such as polling and the role of the parties and the media.
Historians on America
Historians on America is a series of individual essays that selects specific moments, decisions, and intellectual or legislative or legal developments and explains how they altered the course of U.S. history. The book consists of 11 separate essays by major historians, ranging from The Trial of John Peter Zenger in 1735 to The Immigration Act of 1965.
USA Economy in Brief
This mini-publication discusses the factors that make the U.S. economy the world's most productive, competitive, and influential. It focuses on workers and productivity, small and large business, the service economy, goods and services, the role of government, and the concept of "creative destruction," the process where jobs, companies, entire industries come and go because of their success or failure in the marketplace. USA Economy in Brief includes colorful charts to illustrate, for instance, U.S. annual exports and imports and the U.S. trade deficit.
The Constitution of the United States
This illustrated publication includes the complete text of the U.S. Constitution (preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments), as well an updated introduction and explanatory notes by J.W. Peltason, author of Understanding the Constitution and Government by the People. The introduction includes sections explaining how the Constitution set up the U.S. federal system, the background to the Constitutional Convention and how the participants arrived at a final version of the document, its ratification, and sections on the call for a Bill of Rights and the need for additional amendments over the years.
Outline of U.S. History
A chronological look at how the United States took shape -- from its origins as an obscure set of colonies on the Atlantic coast a little more than 200 years ago into what one political analyst today calls "the first universal nation." This fully illustrated edition has been completely revised and updated by Alonzo L. Hamby, Distinguished Professor of History at Ohio University.
Edward R. Murrow, Journalism at Its Best
The career of Edward R. Murrow, the eminent broadcast journalist, is discussed in this publication as an example of the essential role the free press plays in a democratic society. With his reports from London during World War II and his exposé of Senator McCarthy's anti-Communist campaign in the 1950s, Murrow showed how a fearless reporter can use journalistic skills in the public's service in times of crisis.
Principles of Entrepreneurship
Economists and business people differ in their definitions of entrepreneurship. Most, however, agree that entrepreneurship is vital for stimulating economic growth and employment opportunities in all societies. This is particularly true in the developing world, where successful small businesses are the primary engines of job creation and poverty reduction. This page introduces the first eight of what eventually will be a series of 21 one-page primers on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. It discusses the essentials for building and running a business from the planning stages to marketing a product.
A Responsible Press Office: An Insiders Guide
A how-to publication for government leaders and public information officials who want to create an effective mechanism of communication between the media and the government. This handbook offers practical advice based on the significant professional experience of author Marguerite Hoxie Sullivan and other top-level U.S. government spokespersons.
USA History in Brief
The first title in the new "In Brief" series, this publication summarizes in a few thousand words the history of how the United States was founded and the forces and events that shaped the dynamic and varied country that it has become today.
An Outline of American Geography
Regional Landscapes of the United States
By Stephen S. Birdsall and John Florin
This publication considers the physical environment of the United States — landforms, climate, soils, and vegetation — in terms of its impact on the country's cultural, regional, and political development.
Principles of Democracy
Explains fundamental principles that contribute to making a democratic government work effectively. This series of one-page primers provides the reader with a concise definition of democracy and expands on supporting elements such as good governance and the rights and responsibilities of people living in democracies.
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Writers on America
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USA Literature in Brief
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Women of Influence
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Outline of U.S. History
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USA History in Brief
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Outline of U.S. Geography
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Art on the Edge
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USA Map with Facts in Brief
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Outline of American Literature
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Historians on America
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USA Education In Brief
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Obama in His Own Words
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Barack Obama: 44th President of the United States
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USA Elections in Brief
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The Constitution of the United States
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How the U.S. is Governed
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Outline of U.S. Government
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Rights of the People
