Fine Art book publisher Taschen has just partnered with National Geographic to create a stunningly visual history of the United States of America ($300) in the Twentieth Century. Using over 700 image gleaned from the magazine’s archives, this book puts a face on the triumphs and tragedies this past century wrought.

Each state is featured in its section and as the century flows the images turn from early autochrome and black and white, to the war-era Kodachrome and into the age of digital photography. Each storytelling caption adds to the tale of a great nation seen at its peak.