The United States of America are the only remaining superpower in an increasingly confusing world at the start of the twenty-first century. This volume discusses the stages of the country's rise to the status of world power and analyses the USA's fascinating and complex history on the basis of several fundamental subjects. The survey starts with the experiment of establishing a democracy, which was initiated through revolution and is unfinished even today. The USA's development to become a superpower enjoying world hegemony was equally uneven - a rise that has also acquired missionary aspects under the banner of the 'empire of liberty'. Another focus in the account is the way in which new, decidedly American values and a modern, consumption-oriented, technology-saturated lifestyle - the 'American way of life' - emerged from contact in North America between the widest possible variety of cultures and ethnic groups. This lifestyle by no means levelled out the existing ethnic and cultural pluralism of American society. With topics revolving around politics, society, business and culture, the book reveals the lines of historical development in the USA that have been and continue to be signposts for the modern world.