Nations and other political entities are inadequate bases for studying the human past, because the other aspects of human life are not organized along the same lines as these political entities. All communities, including local ones, are amoeba-like, changing size and shape as we observe and probe them. Historians can improve the way they generalize about the past by tailoring their conclusions to the actual evidence they use. By using an array of historical questions of interest to scholars in all of the humanistically oriented disciplines, historians can offer more profound interpretations of their subjects, rather than confining themselves to an explanation of how and why human life evolves or persists through time and space. By doing so, historians can also significantly extend their influence among the general population.

Long before Americans were imbued with the sense of a national past, local antiquarians and amateur historians wrote about the people, places, and happenings that were closest to their hearts, creating in the process a historical record of incalculable value. This gold mine of information and commentary is often overlooked by today's scholars. Russo's book puts us in touch with the historical consciousness of the American people and the once-paramount concern for the particular, the concrete, and the familiar.

This study is the first interpretive text for the study of American exceptionalism and the first overall assessment of geographic, political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of the American past written from a global perspective. Russo argues that life in the United States can be better understood if it is examined from either a wider perspective-the English speaking world, the Western Hemisphere, Western Civilization-or a narrower perspective-regional and local variations. Even when the Americans were innovative-in their multi-ethnic and multi-racial society, in their egalitarian social beliefs, in their political democracy-their innovations were soon copied by others. Therefore, Russo argues, they are no longer distinctly American.

Using nations as the basis for fields of study can both reveal and distort the historical record. When one considers different perspectives, America's uniqueness recedes in importance. American culture was a variant of a wider Western culture. The American economy was an extension of Western capitalism, whether agrarian, commercial, or industrial. American society was a Western society with racial castes and multi-ethnic additions to the population. American government functioned like other Western governments, even with innovative forms: Republican, then democratic. The American past is thus seen to be far less distinctive than previous syntheses have assumed.

A year has passed since Eshel Bresler, my good friend and colleague, and a member of the editorial board of the Advanced Series in Agricultural Sciences, died suddenly while on a visit to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. We had worked together for almost 30 years at the Institute of Soils and Water, ARO, The Volcani Center at Bet Dagan. At the very beginning of our scientific careers we cooperated directly and as a result one of our first publications was coauthored (Soil Sci. 101:205-209, 1966). Thereafter, our specific research interests diver sified, but we continued to work together, with similar approaches to research, and to strive towards the development of Israel soil science and its integration into general worldwide scientific progress. I don't need to emphasize Eshel's contribution to the understan ding of the processes governing water flow and solute transport pro cesses in soils and unsaturated zones. The contributions to this Volume by such a body of outstanding scientists shows the apprecia tion of the international scientific community to his research achievements."

- In this book is an acronym that is the foundation of public speaking. - You can learn about public speaking and refer to this book while teaching your child. - Inside is an easy way to have an organized speech with an opening, middle, and conclusion for your child to present in front of you. - A number of fun activities, techniques, and information about public speaking are also included. - And you can bond with your child as a guide while practicing public speaking together.