History : Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies)

In the heart of Washington, D.C., a centuries-old landscape has come alive in the twenty-first century through a re-creation of the natural environment as the region's original peoples might have known it. Unlike most plantings that surround other museums on the National Mall, the landscape around the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is itself a living exhibit, carefully created to reflect indigenous ways of thinking about the land and its uses. Abundantly illustrated,The Land Has Memory offers beautiful images of the museum's natural environment in every season as well as the uniquely designed building itself. Essays by museum staff and others involved in the museum's creation provide an examination of indigenous peoples' long and varied relationship to the land in the Americas, an account of the museum designers' efforts to reflect traditional knowledge in the design of individual landscape elements, detailed descriptions of the 150 native plant species used, and an exploration of how the landscape changes seasonally. The Land Has Memory serves not only as an attractive and informative keepsake for museum visitors, but also as a thoughtful representation of how traditional indigenous ways of knowing can be put into practice. more...

Price: $45.00

An account of Columbus's fourth and final voyage describes the aging captain's determination to find a passage to the Orient, recounting how his efforts where challenged by shipwreck, mutiny, and political treachery. more...

Price: $14.95

Dennis W. Johnson tells the story of fifteen major laws enacted over the course of two centuries of American democracy, for each looking at the forces and circumstances that led to its enactment—the often tempestuous political struggles, the political players who were key in proposing or enacting the legislation, and the impact of the legislation and its place in American history. more...

Price: $34.95

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Price: $57.00

John Lauritz Larson explores the lure of market capitalism and the beginnings of industrialization in the United States. more...

Price: $17.00