(Hardback)

This title offers an examination of African Americans in sports, from a variety of perspectives and through a lively range of rhetoric styles, and illuminates the history of highly successful and influential individuals, athletes and teams who have transcended mere celebrity to come to represent a given Zeitgeist to a sizable part of the world.

(Hardback)

This in-depth compilation of the lives, works, and contributions of 12 icons of African-American comedy explores their impact on American entertainment and the way America thinks about race.

(Hardback)

The 24 entries in this book provide extensive coverage of some of the most notable figures in African American literature, such as Alice Walker, Richard Wright, and Zora Neale Hurston.

(Hardback)

Discover how these contemporary food icons changed the way Americans eat through the fascinating biographical profiles in this book.

Before 1946 and the advent of the first television cooking show, James Beard's I Love to Eat, not many Americans were familiar with the finer aspects of French cuisine.

(Hardback)

Americans love talk shows. In a typical week, more than 13 million Americans listen to Rush Limbaugh, and 30 million watch Oprah Winfrey's syndicated program. Going behind the scenes, this volume showcases the techniques used to motivate audiences, and examines the talk show in all of its various formats, including sports-talk, and celebrity-talk.

(Hardback)

Discusses the ideas and impact of 27 atheists, agnostics, and secularists whose ideas have shaped society over the last 200 years.

In the opinion of many critics and philosophers, we are entering an age of atheism marked by the waning of Christian fundamentalism and the flourishing of secular thought.

From Ray Charles to Joni Mitchell to Nirvana, rock music has been an undeniable force in both reflecting and shaping our cultural landscape. This two-volume set offers an overview of rock's pervasive role in contemporary society by profiling the lives and work of the music's most legendary artists.

With discographies, illustrations, and a print and electronic resource guide, Women Icons of Popular Music is a rousing, insightful resource for students and music fans alike.

Tori Amos

Joan Baez

Mary J.

Twenty four buildings and structures, including the Brooklyn Bridge, the White House, the Hotel del Coronado, and the Washington Monument are presented here, along with their roles in fiction, film, music, and the imagination of people worldwide.

Across cultures and continents and over the centuries the standards of beauty have changed but the desire to portray beauty, to praise beauty, and to possess beauty has never diminished.

The huge popularity of The Apprentice reflects the degree to which business has emerged as a primary force in popular culture. From Martha Stewart to Ben and Jerry, Bill Gates to Anita Roddick, Icons of Business offers indepth profiles of the business leaders whose names and products have become household words.

Notorious criminals have captured our imaginations for years but we don't forget, either, the many people and organizations who fight back. This title profiles the crime fighters in American history.

Horror and the supernatural have fascinated people for centuries, and many of the most central figures appear over and over again.

Biographical essays engagingly tell the story behind the icon, with background including family and education, career trajectory and highlights, and contributions and circumstances that have led to icon status.

Among the featured: -Ray Charles -Little Richard -Fats Domino & New Orleans R&B -Ruth Brown -Sam Cooke -Etta James -James Brown -Aretha Franklin -The Supremes -Otis Redding -Ike & Tina Turner -Curtis Mayfield -Berry Gordy -Stevie Wonder -Marvin Gaye -Smokey Robinson -The Temptations -Prince

Presents the stories of 24 of the most influential and representative Western icons - those that have captured the nation's imagination since the early days of westward exploration. This two-set volume elevates the reader's understanding of oft-romanticized subjects and the conflicts and cultural changes that made them icons.