Acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Winchester illuminates the men who toiled fearlessly to discover, connect, and bond the citizenry and geography of the U.S.A. from its beginnings and ponders whether the historic work of uniting the States has succeeded, and to what degree. For more than two centuries, E pluribus unum-"Out of many, one"--Has been featured on America's official government seals and stamped on its currency. But what unified...

This is the tale of the first sea voyage to circumnavigate the entire globe. Ferdinand Magellan's dramatic maritime expedition in 1519 discovered the straits that enabled Europe to trade with the Eastern spice islands and changed the course of history.

From food to the spread of political ideas, the landmass from northern Canada to the southern tip of Argentina is complexly bound together, yet these connections are generally ignored. In this groundbreaking and vividly rendered work, leading historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto tells, for the first time, the story of our hemisphere as a whole, showing why it is impossible to understand North, Central, and South America in isolation, and looking instead...

Who Hasn't Gazed upon the abandoned temples of Angkor Wat or the jungle-choked cities of the Maya and wondered, could the same fate happen to us? In this riveting book, Jared Diamond--whose Guns, Germs, and Steel revolutionized our understanding of history--explores how humankind's use and abuse of the environment reveal the truth behind the world's great collapses, from the Anasazi of North America to the Vikings of Greenland to modern Montana. What...

A fascinating look at twelve maps-from Ancient Greece to Google Earth-and how they changed our world. In this masterful study, historian and cartography expert Jerry Brotton explores a dozen of historys most influential maps, from stone tablet to vibrant computer screen. Starting with Ptolemy, "father of modern geography," and ending with satellite cartography, A History of the World in 12 Maps brings maps from classical Greece, Renaissance Europe,...

"From ancient Babylon to the Google age, the world has evolved rapidly along with the ways we see it. In this time, cartography has not only kept pace with, and reflected these changes, but has often driven them. In this beautiful book, over 70 maps give a visual representation of the history of the world."--Cover.