America the Beautiful: A Story in Photographs

by National Geographic

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426221422
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/20/2020
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	107,429
Product dimensions:	9.90(w) x 10.10(h) x 1.20(d)

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.

Editorial Reviews

09/14/2020

This generous collection of more than 250 National Geographic Society photographs, inspired, as Jill Lepore notes in the foreword, by the poem “America the Beautiful,” captures the splendor of all 50 states as well as six U.S. territories. The images are organized into four regions: “The West & Pacific,” where snow-covered trees stand in Yellowstone National Park and the Golden Gate Bridge in California is shown at sunset; “The East & Mid-Atlantic,” where the Chrysler Building looms in New York City and water cascades over the Elakala Falls in West Virginia; “The South & Caribbean,” where a view of valleys in Puerto Rico is seen from the opening of Cueva Ventana and waves crash onto a pier in the Outer Banks, North Carolina; and “The Midwest & Central Plains,” where a rainbow arches over a wheat field in Kansas and tourists balance on slanted glass to marvel at the view from the 360 Chicago Observation Deck. Celebrities (and some scholars) provide brief but moving commentary on their connection to each state, such as James Earl Jones on Michigan, “a place where a young boy can find his true voice” and Tara Westover on Idaho, who notes “home is not so much a place as a lens through which we perceive the world.” This is a rewarding visual journey. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 2020-07-22
A photographic homage to the natural and cultural treasures of the U.S.

This magnificent collection of images was culled from the “more than 20 million photographs from the extensive National Geographic archives and spans more than 100 years of the country’s history.” In the foreword, Harvard historian and New Yorker contributor Jill Lepore, whose 2018 book, These Truths, was an excellent one-volume history of the U.S., reflects on the life and travels of American writer and professor Katharine Lee Bates, the author of the lyrics to the titular song, which contains “echoes of Whitman.” Organized by region—the West and Pacific, East and Mid-Atlantic, South & Caribbean, and Midwest and Central Plains—the collection also includes tributes from prominent citizens from a wide variety of backgrounds, including Barack Obama (“what’s best in me, and what’s best in my message, is consistent with the tradition of Hawaii”), Cal Ripken Jr., Benicio Del Toro, Maya Rudolph, Jewel, John Mellencamp, James Earl Jones, and Tom Brokaw (South Dakota was where I was born and where I’ll be buried”). The consistently high-quality, striking photos are as diverse as the country’s citizenry: aurora borealis shining over a snow-covered Alaskan highway; scientists scaling a 3,200-year-old tree in Sequoia National Park; bison and elk roaming the frozen ranges of Wyoming; farmers harvesting wheat in Kansas; children enjoying a fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Park; massive waves crashing on the rocks next to Maine’s oldest lighthouse; Martin Luther King Jr. standing with other civil rights leaders during the 1963 March on Washington; blues legend B.B. King playing in a small club in Mississippi; and Mexican American students standing for the Pledge of Allegiance in Brownsville, Texas. This outstanding collection meets the high standards that readers have come to expect from National Geographic, providing a wonderful representation of the country’s rich and diverse culture, heritage, and landscape.

A stunning celebration of a country’s beauty.

Kirkus Reviews

For those yearning to hit the road for the first time or maybe the hundredth, National Geographic provides an alternative way to see the wonders of the U.S. This incredible collection of photographs, assembled from National Geographic's archives of more than 20 million images, begins with an introduction by historian and best-selling author Jill Lepore describing Katharine Lee Bates’ journey across the U.S. in 1893. This tour by train inspired Bates to write “America, the Beautiful,” the poem that became the country’s unofficial anthem…Organized geographically, America the Beautiful begins in the West as stunning photographs guide readers from one region to another. Each picture highlights the distinct landscape and unique culture of every state and territory alongside a descriptive caption or personal message from one of its well-known offspring: Barack Obama, Maya Rudolph, Wayne Newton, Eva Longoria, and many others. These aren't just beautiful images; they're momentary encapsulations of people, wildlife, environment, and emotion at their essence. Readers will be transported as they experience the expansiveness of the nation and the connectedness of its people.” –Booklist, Starred Review
 
“A photographic homage to the natural and cultural treasures of the U.S…The consistently high-quality, striking photos are as diverse as the country’s citizenry: aurora borealis shining over a snow-covered Alaskan highway; scientists scaling a 3,200-year-old tree in Sequoia National Park; bison and elk roaming the frozen ranges of Wyoming; farmers harvesting wheat in Kansas; children enjoying a fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Park; massive waves crashing on the rocks next to Maine’s oldest lighthouse; Martin Luther King Jr. standing with other civil rights leaders during the 1963 March on Washington; blues legend B.B. King playing in a small club in Mississippi; and Mexican American students standing for the Pledge of Allegiance in Brownsville, Texas. This outstanding collection meets the high standards that readers have come to expect from National Geographic, providing a wonderful representation of the country’s rich and diverse culture, heritage, and landscape. A stunning celebration of a country’s beauty.” –Kirkus, Starred Review

From the Publisher