Often overlooked because of their high degree of assimilation, people of German descent are actually the largest single ethnic group in the United States. German culture is far more rooted in America than commonly thought. For example, hot dogs, hamburgers and beer wouldn't be classic American staples without German immigrants. In addition to enormous contributions to mainstream beer culture and food culture, they have also added to America's agriculture, religious values and economy. This history highlights German contributions to America, examining their roles from the earliest colonies through the settlement of the Old Northwest and past the Interwar Period. While most German immigrants belonged to the main Lutheran and Reformed churches, a diverse cast of immigrant groups is encountered, including Moravians, Huguenots, and Rhinelanders. Through them, discover the long-standing history of the German descendants and their impact in the United States beginning more than 200 years ago.

Remains of earliest German settlements in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- German place names in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Remains of German commerce in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Remains of German institutions in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Remains of German ways of life in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- German footprints on the physical terrain in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Efforts to remove German footprints in Milwaukee neighborhoods -- Restoring Milwaukee's German essence.

In a world of dwindling natural resources and mounting environmental crisis, who is devising ways of living that will work for the long haul? And how can we, as individuals, make a difference? To answer these fundamental questions, Professor Karen Litfin embarked upon a journey to many of the world’s ecovillagesÑintentional communities at the cutting-edge of sustainable living. From rural to urban, high tech to low tech, spiritual to secular, she discovered an under-the-radar global movement making positive and radical changes from the ground up. In this inspiring and insightful book, Karen Litfin shares her unique experience of these experiments in sustainable living through four broad windows - ecology, economics, community, and consciousness - or E2C2. Whether we live in an ecovillage or a city, she contends, we must incorporate these four key elements if we wish to harmonize our lives with our home planet. Not only is another world possible, it is already being born in small pockets the world over. These micro-societies, however, are small and time is short. Fortunately - as Litfin persuasively argues - their successes can be applied to existing social structures, from the local to the global scale, providing sustainable ways of living for generations to come. You can learn more about Karen's experiences on the Ecovillages website: http://ecovillagebook.org/

Here, from some of America's greatest historians and generals - among them, John Steele Gordon, General George C. Kinney, and John Lukacs - is the story of U.S. involvement in World War I. War is both intimate and sprawling, and this collection includes panoramic perspectives as well as personal reflections that show the heart, soul, and courage of American soldiers.

40 Maps That Will Change How You See the World is a collection of historic and contemporary maps and the insights they reveal about geography, geopolitics, art, history, science, and society.

Must the strip mall and the eight-lane highway define 21st century American life? That is a central question posed by critics of suburban and exurban living in America. Yet despite the ubiquity of the critique, it never sticks-Americans by the scores of millions have willingly moved into sprawling developments over the past few decades. Americans find many of the more substantial criticisms of sprawl easy to ignore because they often come across as snobbish in tone. Yet as Thad Williamson explains, sprawl does create real, measurable social problems. Utilizing a landmark 30,000-person survey, he shows that sprawl fosters civic disengagement, accentuates inequality, and negatively impacts the environment. Yet, while he highlights the deleterious effects of sprawl on civic life in America, he is also evenhanded. He does not dismiss the pastoral, homeowning ideal that is at the root of sprawl, and is sympathetic to the vast numbers of Americans who very clearly prefer it. Sprawl, Justice, and Citizenship is not only be the most comprehensive work in print on the subject, it will be the first to offer an empirically rigorous critique of the most popular form of living in America today.

Devoted to the history, biography, genealogy, poetry, folk-lore and general interests of the Pennsylvania Germans and their descendants.