The photographic journey begins in the streets of Jo'burg in the late 1970's and ends in the rural and desert landscapes of the millennium. It is not a political A to Z or a documentary of our political past, but an observation of the lives of ordinary people and their daily survival choices as they have struggled and overcome the limiting circumstances of their lives - or simply reflected the tenor of their times. Most of the images are unpublished because they were taken in a time when there was no space for the ordinary. They 'fell through the cracks' because they were often considered too 'off beat' to make it. These photographs capture glimpses of life between the cracks before, after and while the political wheel was turning. They are about how people try to survive in so many different and extraordinary ways and the survival choices they make under often extreme conditions of hardship how they reflected themselves and how I absorbed their reflections, how they danced with reality, made light in the dark spaces, embraced each other at great risk.

On May 18, 1605, George Waymouth, captain of the English ship Archangel, anchored in the lee of Monhegan Island, finding shelter from a three-day storm. Putting ashore, the crew found fresh water to drink, wood to burn, and lobsters aplenty in the shoreline rocks. Today, lobstering and lobstermen are American icons of rugged individualism, and their way of life has enlivened and colored the countless bays and coves of New England. The Lobstering Life puts readers in the boats, on the docks, in the bars, and in the lives of the men and women who pull "bugs" from the sea to sustain a cussedly independent, much admired way of life. Not since Peter Matthiessen's bestselling Men's Lives has this trade been so vibrantly brought to life.

When you think of Paris do you picture the Eiffel Tower? The medieval city of Notre Dame? The elegant boulevards of Baron Haussmann? The Montmartre of Toulouse- Lautrec? The grandeur of the Louvre? The Art Nouveau of the Paris Metro? The Grand Projets of Francois Mitterrand? Or...? Yes, there is just so much beauty to Paris. In 150 striking images, Paris celebrates the French capital, from its world-famous landmarks to evocative alleyways and corners that might surprise you. You may have heard, for instance, about the Paris catacombs and sewers that you can visit, but did you know about La Petite Ceinture, a disused 19th century railway line that circumnavigates the inner city? From the medieval marvels of Sainte-Chapelle to the 1970s Pompidou Centre to the latest pop-up beaches beside the Seine, the book explores a great many sides to the city. In collecting these images of the city today, we come to understand something of its history - from the executions that took place at the Place de la Concorde during the Revolution to the Arc de Triomphe honouring those who served in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars to the skyscrapers of La Defense. Presented in a landscape format and with captions explaining the story behind each entry, Paris is a stunning collection of images celebrating the world's most romantic city.

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

Winner, The New York Public Library, Best of Reference Award, 2002

"Here is a fascinating chronological history of New York City from 1524-2001, looking at the people, building, instiutions, political events, music and businesses that helped shape the city."
--"Booklist"

"The entries are well written and cover a broad range of topics, including political, social, and cultural, and the reader often cannot help but utter, 'I didn't know that.'"
--"ARBA online"

"[Kroessler] does a fine job of chronicling the city's past, incorporating both little-known, flash-in-the-pan nuggest as well as far-reaching, recurring themes."
--"Queens Chronicle"

If any city deserves a complete chronology, it is surely New York. New York, Year by Year is a cornucopia of the familiar and the forgotten, the historic and the ephemeral, the heroic and the banal. In this handy reference work, Jeffrey A. Kroessler takes us from Verrazano's arrival in 1524 into the new millennium, highlighting the strikes and strikeouts, tunnels and towers, personalities and parades which not only made history in New York, but also proved to be defining moments for the nation.

New York, Year by Year features events such as Mark Twain's first lecture at Cooper Union, and the letter he later wrote when the Brooklyn Public Library tried to restrict access to "Huckleberry Finn," In contrast, we are reminded of the publication in the 1950s of "Eloise, A Book for Precocious Grown-Ups," Kay Thompson's fanciful tale of a little girl's adventures in the Plaza Hotel, the appearance of the Beat Generation, and the flight (literally) of the Dodgers and Giants toCalifornia. New York, Year by Year chronicles the opening of Shea Stadium in April 1964 and the performance by the Beatles there that August. The Sixties also saw the opening of "The Fantastiks," which is still running on Sullivan Street, and the closing of Steeplechase, the last of the great amusement parks at Coney Island. And this chronology makes sure we don't forget when Kitty Genovese was murdered in Kew Gardens and her cries for help were left unanswered because her neighbors "didn't want to get involved." Kroessler leads us on a tour of the city from its first settlers until the November 2001 election of a new mayor for the new millennium.

From the colonial era and the Revolution through the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties, Kroessler has compiled a record of cultural, economic, political, and social events. Some are of transient importance, others of lasting significance, but all illuminate the city's fascinating history.