Born in a poor, dangerous section of New Orleans known as The Battlefield, Louis Armstrong overcame tremendous odds to become one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. From his 1920s-era Hot Five recordings, which forever changed the face of jazz, to such latter-day pop hits as Hello, Dolly and the well-known What a Wonderful World, Armstrong enjoyed a remarkable career that spanned more than five decades. In addition to touring the world and recording countless singles and full-length albums, Satchmo, as the trumpeter and singer was known, starred in movies, hobnobbed with...

From overfishing and whaling to pollution and pirates, a number of significant issues are impacting the oceans in the 21st century. The selections contained in this volume chart the most significant of these problems and describe the political structures in place to confront them.

Such osocial networkingo websites as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter have revolutionized communication, changing the ways in which friends stay in touch, companies advertise products, and politicians reach voters, to name but three of their uses. This collection of articles traces the evolution of social networking, considering both its usefulness and potential dangers.

Surveys various supernatural phenomena, from ghosts and extra sensory perception (ESP), to UFOs and cryptozoology, examining whether they have any scientific validity and why people find them so fascinating. Chapter headings include oWhy We Believe,o oAmericaAEs Haunted Army,o oIs There Anybody Out There?,o and oThe Myth Hunters.o