This World War II-era study paints an illuminating contrast between the culture of Japan and that of the United States.

Though first published over a hundred years ago, "Home Life in Colonial Days" is filled with usefulness and vitality. In her wonderfully readable narrative, Alice Morse Earle provides a fascinating description of everyday life -- the chores, the tools, the dwelling places, the foods, the sights and sounds -- that Colonial Americans knew. Tough not a history of Colonial America, "Home Life in Colonial Days" contains many interesting tidbits about our...

Celebrated by writers from Petrarch to Peter Mayle, Provence's rugged mountains, wild maquis and lavender-filled meadows are world-famous. Historic cities like Arles, Avignon and Aix contain Roman amphitheatres, papal palaces and royal residences, while market towns and picturesque villages maintain age-old traditions of wine producing and agriculture. From the highland towns of Digne and Sisteron to the marshy expanse of the Camargue, Provence encompasses...

The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and memoirist Margo Jefferson has lived in the thrall of a cast of others--her parents and maternal grandmother, jazz luminaries, writers, artists, athletes, and stars. These are the figures who thrill and trouble her, and who have made up her sense of self as a person and as a writer. In her much-anticipated follow-up to Negroland, Jefferson brings these figures to life in a memoir of stunning originality, a performance...

Every year, nearly 800 pilot whales are slaughtered on the Faroe Islands despite the protests of animal rights activists. The fjord's water, surrounded by stunning green mountains, is turning blood red. It is the "Grind" season again Faroe Islanders' ritual slaughter of pilot whales. Two proud Faroese whalers are on one side, two young and passionate Sea Shepherd activists on the other. The documentary invites you to see past preconceived positions...

From the Publisher: This exciting addition to the Culture and Customs of Latin America and the Caribbean series provides readers with an all-encompassing look at contemporary life in Puerto Rico. Having always been under the watchful eyes of other colonies and countries, Puerto Rico's own customs and traditions have managed to flourish throughout the ages, culturally uniting what is a politically divided island. In addition to gaining an understanding...

"Walden (first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an American book written by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance. First published in 1854, it details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in...

David Copperfield was born in Blunderstone, England, six months after his father's death. His childhood is very happy, as he has a loving and warm mother and a friendly housekeeper that raise him well despite their lack of money. However, his mother soon remarries a cruel, petty man that doesn't like David. He subjects them both to toxic behavior and child abuse, affecting David's life severely. After his stepfather sends him to a boarding school,...