高级英语选修课教材·当代国家与社会系列：当代美国

TheUnitedStatesofAmericadominatesthetwenty-first-centuryworldbothinmilitaryandpoliticalpoweraswellasinitsculturalinfluenceasamodelofthe"goodlife"andadesireddestinationformigration.ThiscompletelyrevisedandupdatedsecondeditionofContemporaryAmericaprovidesanextremelybroad-rangingintroductiontothesociety,politics,economy,culture,andworldroleoftheUnitedStates.TheauthorsfocusontheClintonandGeorgeW.Bushpresidencies——andinparticularontheperiodsincetheterroristattacksof9/I1/2001whichhasbeenmarkedbyagrowingculturaldivisionbetweenalargelypermissive,urbanDemocratic"Blue"Americaandalargelyreligious,rural,andRepublican"Red"America.Illustratedthroughoutwithrelevantphotographs,maps,charts,andtables,ContemporaryAmericacoverseverythingfromrockmusictonationalparksandfrommediacorporationstosocialsecurity.Thisisanidealstarting-pointinAmericanstudiesforstudentsandgeneralreadersalike.Reviewofthefirstedition："ContemporaryAmericahasthefeelofLonelyPlanetmeetstheEconomistIntelligenceUnit.Ittellsyouallmannerofthingsyououghttoknow,interspersedwithaneclecticseriesofdigressionsthatactasoutingstothemainjourney...RussellDuncanandJosephGoddardwritewellandcoveragreatdealofgroundinatextwithhighproductionvaluesandacleardesign."MichaelFoley,TheTimesHigherEducationSupplement"[C]ogentandwellbalanced...Allthebasicsanyoneseekinganoverviewofthenationsmajorcontoursarehere...[A]nyonereadingthevolumewhethernewstudentorexperiencedscholar——willcomeawayfromitbetterinformed."DaleCarter,TheNewsletteroftheNordicAssociationforAmericanStudies.