National Geographic, USA

State by state, these remarkable images bring a vivid account of a vast, evolving, and diverse country, from breathtaking landscapes to advancing industry, evocative rural life to burgeoning towns and cities. We travel from the ski slopes of Colorado to the jazz bars of New Orleans, from the luxurious Hollywood Hills to a barbershop in Kentucky, and from Manhattan's Chinatown to a river baptism in Mississippi. Along the way, the tour takes in the gamut of photographic evolution, shifting from early black-and-white and autochrome images of the 1920s and 1930s into midcentury Kodachrome, then the harder-edged reportage of the 1970s and 1980s, and finally the digital images of the 1990s through to the present. With an introductory essay by photography editor David Walker, as well as prefaces to each state section and fascinating storytelling captions, this book celebrates not only the world's greatest photography magazine but also the people, history, and beauty of the United States in all its kaleidoscopic glory.