Describes World War II, using the reader's choices to reveal historical details from the perspectives of a young American mother joining the work force, a California boy, and a wounded African American veteran.

In 1944, ten-year-old Jennie Fleming is doing what she can to help win the war -- she's hoeing weeds in her "Victory Garden" on the "home front."

In January 1942, twelve-year-old Colton is on his family's fishing boat in the Atlantic with his older brother Danny when the boat is capsized by a Nazi U-boat, and Danny is severely injured; realizing how close the enemy is, Colton takes his brother's enlistment papers and joins the Navy, determined to do his part to defeat Germany--if only he can keep his age a secret and survive life at sea.

The set covers the full breadth of North American history and culture, with 650 alphabetically arranged, easy-to-understand articles.

Provides comprehensive coverage of the years 1930-1939 in the United States and Canada, paying special attention to the impact of the Great Depression in North America and the world in general.

The first account of the remarkable 18-month journey of Lorena Hickok, intimate friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, throughout the country during the worst of the Great Depression, bearing witness to the unprecedented ravages; an indelible portrait of an unprecedented crisis.

June 1939. Francis Dempsey and his shell-shocked brother, Michael, are on an ocean liner from Ireland bound for their brother Martin's home in New York City, having stolen a small fortune from the IRA. During the week that follows, the lives of these three brothers collide spectacularly with big-band jazz musicians, a talented but fragile heiress, a Jewish street photographer facing a return to Nazi-occupied Prague, a vengeful mob boss, and the ghosts...