This is America [antikvár]

Foreword "Americans have all a lively faith in the perfectibility of man; they judge that the diffusion of knowledge must necessarily be advantageous, and the consequences of ignorance fatal; they all consider society as a body in a state of improvement, humanity as a changing scene, in which nothing is, or ought to be, permanent; and they admit that what appears to them today to be good, may be superseded by something better tomorrow." The words of a French visitor to the United States, Alexis de Tocqueville, written in 1840 still reflect characteristics of most Americans. They live in a country marked by vast diversity and constant change. Statistics alone about the United States, its geography, the economy, the culture and how people live and work fill volumes. This booklet attempts to introduce a vast and complex nation, to provide a bit of information that may encourage a reader to seek more. Of necessity, the editors have simply touched upon a variety of aspects of American life-enumerating facts that will be surpassed and replaced each changing day, but which convey the general magnitude of the subjects.