America the Beautiful: A Story in Photographs

This glorious book of photography, featuring more than 200 magnificent National Geographic images of all 50 states, is a gift-worthy celebration of America's unique natural and cultural treasures.

America the Beautiful showcases the stunning spaces closest to our nation's heart--from the woods in the Great Appalachian Valley that Davy Crockett once called home to the breathtaking sweep of California's Big Sur coast to the wilds of Alaska. It also celebrates the people who have made this country what it is, featuring a wide range of images including the Arikara Nation in the early 1900s and scientists preparing for travel to Mars on a Hawaiian island. Culled from more than 130 years of National Geographic's vaunted archives, this provocative collection depicts the splendor of this great nation as only National Geographic can, with a dramatic combination of modern and historical imagery--from the creation of architectural icons like the Golden Gate Bridge and Lady Liberty to the last of the country's wild places currently preserved in our national parks.

Organized by chapters focused on region (west coast and the Pacific, east coast, the south, and the Midwest) that are themselves inspired by verses of the original poem America the Beautiful, this book also features a moving introduction offering perspective on the country's unique journey. You'll also find behind-the-scenes commentary from the world-renowned photographers who captured this unforgettable imagery, and observations from the conservationists, activists, and historians who help keep America beautiful today. Profound and inspiring, this is a book for everyone who has ever marveled at the beauty of the United States.

Publisher: National Geographic Society
Published: 10/20/2020
Pages: 416
Weight: 4.35lbs
Size: 9.80h x 10.20w x 1.70d
ISBN: 9781426221422


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2020
Publishers Weekly 09/14/2020
Booklist 09/01/2020 pg. 28

About the Author
One of the world's leading nonfiction publishers, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC has published more than 1,700 titles, featuring such categories as history, travel, nature, photography, space, science, health, biography, and memoir. A portion of its proceeds is used to fund exploration, conservation, and education through ongoing contributions to the work of the National Geographic Society.
JILL LEPORE (foreword) is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University. She has been writing for The New Yorker since 2005 and is also the host of the podcast The Last Archive. As a wide-ranging and prolific essayist, Lepore writes about American history, law, literature, and politics. She won the Bancroft Prize for her book The Name of War and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in history for The Story of America, which was also short-listed for the PEN Literary Award for the Art of the Essay. Her other award-winning books include Book of Ages, The Secret History of Wonder Woman, and These Truths: A History of the United States. Her book If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future, is out this year.