Amazon.com American Greats is a big， beautiful book， and the timing of its release is impeccable: if ever there was a book to celebrate the end of the millennium， this is it. How can you not love a book that features essayists like David McCullough writing about the Brooklyn Bridge， John Updike on The New Yorker， Christopher Buckley on the Coca-Cola recipe， Gay Talese on The New York Times， and David Halberstam on West Point? Editors Robert A. Wilson and Stanley Marcus seek to celebrate American spirit and ingenuity in words and pictures--and do it wonderfully. The 80-plus people， events， and items chosen for inclusion may seem quirky， but American Greats doesn't claim to be definitive. The choices they make， though， are inarguable. Here's a sample: C-SPAN， the Corvette， Strunk and White's The Elements of Style， the G.I. bill， the Gettysburg Address， Iditarod dogsled racing， the final episode of MASH， the Marshall Plan， National Geographic maps， the Oklahoma land rush of 1889， the pony express， the skyscraper， Sesame Street， the Smithsonian Institution， Tabasco sauce， ticker-tape parades， the women's suffrage movement， the Wright Brothers， and Yellowstone National Park. --Linda Killian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Book Description In a spectacular new jacket， with a great new gift price--the beautifully illustrated， full-color volume Parade Magazine called "dazzling...enjoyable and stimulating." This celebration of America at its best offers compelling evidence of a nation's courage， invention and resilience. Here are the greatest achievements in American thought， art， architecture， and design， explored and revealed by famous writers and experts. A perfect gift and valuable keepsake， American Greats "leaves readers amazed at the courage， stamina， genius， beauty， and durability that has made this nation what it is." (Indianapolis Star). See all Editorial Reviews