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Genealogy Online 5th ed.  2001 Elizabeth Powell Crowe ISBN:0072131144 
 In computer books, it pays to get the most recent edition, which is what we recommend here.  Venturing beyond listing applicable web sites, this book covers Usenet and  FTP sites and conventions and how to chat.  It also covers how to use the major search engines and, of course, describes the major genealogy sites.

The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America 1997 Dale Taylor  ISBN:0898797721
One of a series of books published by Writer's Digest to help writers understand and convey life in other times to readers, this and the other books in the series are of interest to the non-writer as well.  Covers most aspects of life, including what people ate and drank and what jobs they did.  Other books in the series such as Everyday Life in the Old West and Everyday Life in the 1800s (ISBN:1582970637). 

America's Music 2nd ed 1966 Gilbert Chase ISBN:070106738
Survey of music in our history, this edition stops short of rock and roll, but tells you as much as you probably want to know about popular music in earlier periods. 

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Eric Sloane's America  1954, 1955, 1956  Eric Sloan ISBN:0883940612
Originally three volumes, see if you can find a used or remaindered copy through .  Although primarily thought of as an illustrator (at least by this writer), there is good background material in the books on how and why things were done as well as what they looked like.

Life in America (2 vols) 1951 Marshall Davidson
Prepared by a former associate curator of the American Wing and staff editor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, this is a heavily graphics oriented general history.  Pictures, maps, and photographs appear on almost every page (all in black & white).  See if it is on offer through

A Field Guide to American Houses  1984 Virginia & Lee McAlester ISBN:0394510311, 0394739698 (paper)
Lots of photos and line drawings identifying elements of the styles of houses in this country.  Indispensable if you really want to learn architectural style and history on a practical level.

Dictionary of American Slang 1960  Harold Wentworth, Stuart Berg Flexner
The slang is now largely out of date, but it is intriguing.  The words that you couldn't find in the dictionary.

American Buildings and Their Architects 1976 William H Pierson Jr  ISBN:0385061239
More academic than the Field Guide this work also focuses more on the background of styles in Europe and elsewhere and on larger buildings - in any age, a house designed by an architect is by definition not a house an ordinary person is going to live in.

Harvard Guide to American History 1974 ed. Frank Freidel ISBN 0674375602  Now dated but still important reference tool in 2 volumes. the first is "how to" research, write and publish, with topical guides; the second is chronological.

Reference Sources in History:  An Introductory Guide 1990 Ronald Fritze, Brian Coutts, Louis Vyhnanek ISBN 0874361648  General guide by format, with newspapers and microfilms as well as books.

Subject Collections 1993  Lee Ash, William G Miller ISBN 00835231410  Guide to locating types of collections in public, prviate, and academis libraries across the US and Canada.

American Bibliography 1967 Charles Evans ISBN0844611751  A massive 14 volume attempt to identify all titles printed on  US soil from 1639 to 1800.  Unless you're addicted to history, find it at a library.  There are various spin-offs, updates, and supplements.

Dictionary of American History 1878-1949 1976 James T Adams ISBN 0684138565  8 volume dictionary is an expansion of 1940 edition, one-volume abridged edition was published in 1985

The Almanac of American History 1983 Arthur M Schlesinger Jr  ISBN 0399128530  Chronological treatment with short entries, good for browsing or sorting things out by date.

Documents of American History 1988 ed Henry Steele Commager ISBN 0132172747, 0132177828 The ISBNs are for the 2 volumes of the 1987 10th edition.  These are edited to be the major documents of interest to American history, beginning with the authorization for Columbus' voyage

Historic Documents 1991 Congressional Quarterly ISBN 0871875667SB  From 50 to 100 documents from each year.

The American Heritage Pictorial Atlas of United States History 1966  Good looking maps with emphasis on military history.

American Political Leaders from Colonial Times to the Present 1991 Steven G O'Brien ISBN 0874365708  Over 400 leaders with biographies and bibliographies

The HarperCollins Dictionary of American Government and Politics 1992 Jay M Shafritz ISBN 0062700316  4000 entries for federal, state and local level, numerous ways to search by topic or category other extras.