Contents: THE BRITISH PEOPLE Facts and figures about the British; leisure and sport in Britain; young people in Britain THE GEOGRAPHY OF BRITAIN Physical geography; human geography; weather and climate; energy and natural resources; transport and communications; national production BRITISH HISTORY Pre-Norman Britain; Medieval England; Tudor England; the conflict between King and Parliament; the 18th Century; Victorian Britain; Britain's decline as a world power; Post-war reconstruction; The 60s and 70s; Britain and Ireland; the Thatcher revolution BRITISH INSTITUTIONS The Constitutions; the Monarchy; the Legislature; the Executive; elections and political parties; the judiciary; trade unions; the media; education; religion; financial institutions THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Facts and figures about the Americans; leisure and sport in the USA; young people in the USA; the richest nation on earth AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY Physical geography; human geography; weather and climate; natural resources; transport and communications; national production AMERICAN HISTORY Pre-colonial America; Colonial America; American independence; 19th-century expansion; The War of Secession (1861-1865); industrialization and immigration; America and two World Wars; Post-war America; the Cold War; civil rights; Vietnam and Watergate; right-wing reconstruction; the end of the Cold War AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS The Constitution; the Presidency; Congress; elections and political parties; the federal judiciary; state government; the media; education; higher education; churches; trade unions; the Federal Reserve System; Wall Street COMMERCIAL ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS