The Constitution of the United States of America (Inscribed and Illustrated by Sam Fink / Philadelphia Convention)

The Constitution of the United States of America

Inscribed and Illustrated by Sam Fink (Philadelphia Convention)

Blurb: In 1787... 

We were given the right to practice the religion of our choice. We were given the right to say what we wanted without persecution. It was written that our house and property were secure from unreasonable search and seizure. We were given the right to a public trial. Fifty-five men we will never know sat in a sweltering room and fought for us. We were given our rights as citizens of the United States.

This fall, as we return again to the ballot box to decide the course of our country's congressional and state leadership, every voter must find their way back to that room in Philadelphia. Welcome Books is proud to provide a map. 

The Constitution of the United States of America, inscribed and illustrated by the master calligrapher, Sam Fink, brings to life the issues underlying the triumphs of this abiding document. Originally published in pen and ink for Random House in 1987, Mr Fink has, at the request of Welcome Books, gone back to his original black-and-white art and painted it anew, created a full-colour masterpiece. The result is glorious. Each amendment, each article, each word so thoughtfully placed in The Constitution has been given Mr. Fink's profound touch. With a powerful intelligence and a wonderful sense of humour, he has provided us with an entry point into this complex document, allowing us to read it with greater ease and understanding.

In 1787, we were entrusted with our most important living document, The Constitution of the United States of America. Have we kept it safe? To answer this, we must begin by reading it, each and every one of us - so that we may claim an intimate knowledge of its content: so that we may never forget its tenets; so that we may remember the kind of world we want to live in. This, Sam Fink, in his direct and unadorned way, respectful and loving, helps us do.

ISBN: 9780941807999 (Hardback)

Year: 1787 / 2006

Publisher: Welcome Books

Pages: 135 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia page for The Constitution

2. Buy from Amazon

3. Publisher's page for the book

4. Buy from Barnes and Noble

5. Wikipedia page for the author

Meet Captain America: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! (Elizabeth Rudnick)

Meet Captain America: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

Elizabeth Rudnick

Blurb: Avengers: Assemble!

News from the front! HYDRA extends its reach over the world, and one by one, countries are falling to its great power. But one man stands in the way! Captain America, the world's first Super-Soldier! Can Captain America save the world from Red Skull and HYDRA by himself?

ISBN: 9781742833262 (Paperback)

Year: 2011

Publisher: Marvel

Pages: 24 (Fiction)

Links

1. Google books page

2. Buy from Amazon

3. Find more Avengers books

4. Youtube clip of the animated Captain America

5. TV shows page on the story

Notes from a Big Country (Bill Bryson)

Notes from a Big Country

Bill Bryson

Blurb: Bill Bryson has the rare knack of being out of his depth wherever he goes - even (perhaps especially) in the land of his birth. This became all too apparent when, after nearly two decades in England, the world's best-loved travel writer upped sticks with Mrs Bryson, little Jimmy et al. and returned to live in the country he had left as a youth.

Of course there were things Bryson missed about Blighty but any sense of loss was countered by the joy of rediscovering some of the forgotten treasures of his childhood: the glories of a New England autumn; the pleasingly comical sight of oneself in shorts; and motel rooms where you can generally count on being awakened in the night by a piercing shriek and the sound of a female voice pleading, 'Put the gun down, Vinnie, I'll do anything you say.'

Whether discussing the dazzling efficiency of the garbage disposal unit, the exoticism of having your groceries bagged for you, the jaw-slackening direness of American TV or the smug pleasure of being able to eat your beef without having to wonder if when you rise from the table you will walk sideways into the wall, Bill Bryson brings his inimitable brand of bemused wit to bear on that strangest of phenomena - the American way of life.

ISBN: 9780552997867 (Paperback)

Year: 1998

Publisher: Black Swan

Pages: 383 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia page for the book

2. Buy from Amazon

3. Review of the book

4. Another review

5. Google books page

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (Steven M. Gillon)

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America

Steven M. Gillon

Blurb: A companion book to The History Channel special series of ten one-hour documentaries.

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America pinpoints pivotal days that transformed our nation. For the series and the book, The History Channel challenged a panel of leading historians, including author Steven M. Gillon, to come up with some less well-known but historically significant events that triggered change in America. Together, the days they chose tell a story about the great democratic ideals upon which our country was built.

You won't find July 4, 1776, for instance, or the attack on Fort Sumter that ignited the Civil War, or the day Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. But January 25, 1787, is here. On that day, the ragtag men of Shay's Rebellion attacked the federal arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts, and set the new nation on the path to a strong central government. January 24, 1848, is also on the list. That's when a carpenter named John Marshall spotted a few glittering flakes of gold in a California riverbed. The discovery profoundly altered the American dream. Here, too, is the day that noted pacifist Albert Einstein unwittingly advocated the creation of the Manhattan Project, thus setting in motion a terrible chain of events.

Re-creating each even with vivid immediacy, accessibility, and historical accuracy, 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America comes together as a history of our country, from the first colonists' contact with Native Americans to the 1960s. It is a snapshot of our country as we were, are, and will be.

ISBN: 0307339343 (Paperback)

Year: 2006

Publisher: Three Rivers Press

Pages: 262 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia page for the TV series

2. Buy the book from Amazon

3. IMDB page for the TV series

4. Google books page

5. Review of the series

The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008 (Bob Woodward)

The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008

Bob Woodward

Blurb: As violence in Iraq reaches unnerving levels in 2006, a second front in the war rages at the highest levels of the Bush administration. In his fourth book on President George W. Bush, Bob Woodward takes readers deep inside the tensions, secret debates, unofficial backchannels, distrust and determination within the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the intelligence agencies and the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq. With unparalleled intimacy and detail, this gripping account of a president at war describes a period of distress and uncertainty within the U.S. government from 2006 through mid-2008.

The White House launches a secret strategy review that excludes the military. General George Casey, the commander in Iraq, believes that President Bush does not understand the war and eventually concludes he has lost the president's confidence. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also conduct a secret strategy review that goes nowhere. On the verge of revolt, they worry that the military will be blamed for a failure in Iraq.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strongly opposes a surge of additional U.S. forces and confronts the president, who replies that her suggestions would lead to failure. The president keeps his decision to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld from Vice President Dick Cheney until two days before he announces it. A retired Army general uses his high-level contacts to shape decisions about the war, as Bush and Cheney use him to deliver sensitive messages outside the chain of command.

For months, the administration's strategy reviews continue in secret, with no deadline and no hurry, in part because public disclosure would harm Republicans in the November 2006 elections. National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley tells Rice, 'We've got to do it under the radar and screen because the electoral season is so hot.'

The War Within provides an exhaustive account of struggles of General David Petraeus, who takes over in Iraq during one of the bleakest and most violent periods of the war. It reveals how breakthroughs in military operations and surveillance account for much of the progress as violence in Iraq plummets in the middle of 2007.

Woodward interviewed key players, obtained dozens of never-before-published documents, and had nearly three hours of exclusive interviews with President Bush. The result is stunning, firsthand history of the years from mid-2006, when the White House realises the Iraq strategy is not working, through the decision to surge another 30,000 U.S. troops in 2007, and into mid-2008, when the war becomes a fault line in the presidential election.

The War Within addresses head-on questions of leadership, not just in a war but in how we are governed and the dangers of unwarranted secrecy.

ISBN: 9781921470103 (Hardback)

Year: 2008

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 487 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Buy from Amazon

2. Foreign Affairs look at the book

3. The Washington Post's in depth look at the book

4. Article on the book

5. Good reads page for the book

Captain America: The First Avenger (Elizabeth Rudnick)

Captain America: The First Avenger

Elizabeth Rudnick

Blurb: All Steve Rogers ever wanted to do was join the U.S. Army and fight for his country. But he was too sick and frail to pass the required physical. His patriotic dreams were shattered... until a secret branch of the military offered him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: Steve would be the test subject in an experiment that would transform him from a weak, unhealthy civilian into a mighty Super-Soldier!

Now known as Captain America, Steve is thrown onto the battlefields of Europe, where he must embark on a dangerous mission to stop the evil Red Skull - and his diabolical HYDRA organisation - from destroying the entire world!

ISBN: 9781742830780 (Paperback)

Year: 2011

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 138 (Fiction)

Links

1. Buy at Amazon

2. Official site for the film

3. Wikipedia page for the film

4. IMDB page for the film

5. Trailer for the film