The Great American Web Book: A Citizen's Guide to the Treasures of the U.S. Government on the World Wide Web

Most people -- even those who surf the Net everyday -- don't know it, but the person responsible for the creation of the Internet environment is Uncle Sam. In the 1960s a famous military think-tank asked a simple question: how would political and military leaders communicate in the event of a nuclear war? Their answer, after more than two decades' worth of prototypes, working models, and juvenile net systems that never grew up, is the Internet.

It's not surprising then that the U.S. government is the best and most useful source of information on the Internet, and The Great American Web Book is the first and only definitive guide to that information.  Entrepreneurs can find the latest census studies and reports from the Commerce Department. Students can download historic documents. Health researchers can explore the latest reports from the National Institutes of Health. Educators can access the Library of Congress. And it doesn't stop there. You can dissect a "virtual frog" at the Energy Department, get flight data on the next NASA launch, check out the F.B.I.'s Ten Most Wanted List, lobby members of Congress by e-mail, download tax forms, scan the POW/MIA database, research your genealogical roots, and watch the latest pictures from the Hubble telescope.

Your tax dollars pay for this incredible resource. Now there's a guide that shows how to make the most of it.

Raphael Sagalyn lives in Bethesda, Maryland, where he runs The Sagalyn Literary Agency as well as the book-packaging firm, Inside Information, Inc. He agented and helped package Information USA, the best-selling guide to information available from the U.S. government.