Winner of the Bancroft Prize. "A superb panorama of life in America from the first settlements on through the white hot days of the Revolution." - Bruce Lancaster, Saturday Review[...]
First published in 1962, this wonderfully provocative book introduced the notion of "pseudo-events" -- events such as press conferences and presidential debates, which are manufactured solely in order to be reported -- and the contemporary definition of celebrity as "a person who is known for his we[...]
In 1872, Isabella Bird, daughter of a clergyman, set off alone to the Antipodes 'in search of health' and found she had embarked on a life of adventurous travel. In 1873, wearing Hawaiian riding dress, she rode her horse through the American Wild West, a terrain only newly opened to pioneer settleme[...]