Q. What is the most-watched TV format in history, seen by about 100 million people weekly around the world? A. Wheel of Fortune, a game show. Without putdowns or pandering, the author looks at 260 such shows, concluding that culture has triumphed over technology. For despite our capacity to transmit the same content world-wide, McLuhan's global village has not come to pass. Technology has, however, encouraged already-existing "cultural continents" to coalesce. About one-third of the world's game shows have been licensed or adapted from another country, especially from the United States. Conversely, a single program can cross borders unchanged, such as Sabado Gigante, which appeals to Spanish speakers in 18 countries. The first truly global study of TV entertainment, this book includes interviews with producers, contestants, and licensers. With its tables, illustrations and appendices, the text provides details on content and audiences, as well as explanatory overviews.

In the tradition of Rizzoli’s Historic Houses of the Hudson Valley and The Houses of McKim, Mead & White, Great Houses of New England features a stunning array of newly photographed houses that range over four centuries and are distinctive examples of the architecture of the region—from the mid-seventeenth-century New England Colonial Judge Corwin House (Witches House) in Salem, MA., and the eighteenth-century Jeremiah Lee Mansion in Marblehead, MA., to the late-nineteenth-century McKim, Mead & White Shingle-Style Isaac Bell House in Newport, R.I. With lavish photography of sumptuously appointed interiors including many rarely seen rooms, wonderfully detailed house exteriors and gardens, and authoritative text by architectural historian Roderic H. Blackburn, Great Houses of New England comprehensively considers the magnificent building styles of the region—including Early New England Colonial, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Shingle Style, Colonial Revival, and Tudor. Great Houses of New England is a landmark work of enduring interest to homeowners, architects, architecture historians, and all those who love fine architecture and interiors.

New England has a rich gardening heritage. In The Garden Tourist's New England, garden designer Jana Milbocker takes you on a fantastic tour of 140 gardens and nurseries and provides all the information you need to make the most of your visit. From the breathtaking flower gardens of Mount Desert Island in Maine, to Colonial Revival gardens in Connecticut and New Hampshire, topiary gardens in Rhode Island, and botanical gardens in Vermont and Massachusetts, there is something for every gardener to enjoy in a tour of the region. A companion to the Northeast edition of The Garden Tourist, this guide features notable private gardens, specialty nurseries, and off-the-beaten-path destinations for the passionate gardener.?Preview 140 outstanding gardens including 34 specialty nurseries in 264 pages richly illustrated with 700 photos.?Enjoy the best botanical, historic, and private gardens in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.?Plan your trips with regional maps, contact information, sample itineraries, and garden amenities.

“Delve into this beautiful book. You’ll come away sharing his passion for the beauty that gardens bring into our lives.” —Sigourney Weaver, environmentalist, actor, trustee of New York Botanical Garden How does an individual garden relate to the larger landscape? How does it connect to the natural and cultural environment? Does it evoke a sense of place? In Spirit of Place, Bill Noble—a lifelong gardener, and the former director of preservation for the Garden Conservancy—helps gardeners answer these questions by sharing how they influenced the creation of his garden in Vermont. Throughout, Noble reveals that a garden is never created in a vacuum but is rather the outcome of an individual’s personal vision combined with historical and cultural forces. Sumptuously illustrated, this thoughtful look at the process of garden-making shares insights gleaned over a long career that will inspire you to create a garden rich in context, personal vision, and spirit.

Detailed, accurate illustrations of 43 homes in wide range of styles: Mark Twain House, House of the Seven Gables, Nathan Hale Homestead, Robert Frost Place, The Breakers, many more. Informative captions.

"The history of New England -- indeed, the history of the United States -- can be experienced first-hand by visiting the homes and estates of the region's most notable residents. From presidents and war heroes to icons of American literature and the arts, the grace and grandeur of these homes offer a glimpse into the lives of the men and women who shaped our nation. [The author and photographer] breathe life into the history of the region's thirty-six most important, influential, and picturesque homes, from the earliest homesteads of the 1600s through the Gilded Age mansions of the early twentieth century." --P. [4] of cover.

Federal Twist is set on a ridge above the Delaware River in western New Jersey. It is a naturalistic garden that has loose boundaries and integrates closely with the natural world that surrounds it. It has no utilitarian or leisure uses (no play areas, swimming pools, or outdoor dining) and the site is not an obvious choice for a garden (heavy clay soil, poorly drained: quick death for any plants not ecologically suited to it). The physical garden, its plants and its features, is of course an appealing and pleasant place to be but Federal Twist's real charm and significance lie in its intangible aspects: its changing qualities and views, the moods and emotions it evokes, and its distinctive character and sense of place. This book charts the author's journey in making such a garden. How he made a conscious decision not to "improve the land", planted large, competitive plants into rough grass, experimented with seeding to develop sustainable plant communities. And how he worked with light to provoke certain moods and allowed the energy of the place, chance, and randomness to have its say. Part experimental horticulturist and part philosopher, James Golden has written an important book for naturalistic and ecological gardeners and anyone interested in exploring the relationship between gardens, nature, and ourselves.