This gorgeous gift book reveals 50 years of photography by "National Geographic" photographer Bill Allard. Allard's style called for entering people's homes and hearts; by winning their confidence he was able to capture off guard moments, and reveal the depth of human nature as never before seen in the pages of "National Geographic". Allard's 50-year retrospective begins with a small section on America, where his work includes "The Hutterites", the "American Cowboy", the "American Blues", and a recent story on "Hunting". His international coverage is 80 percent of the book, covering such wide-ranging topics as the Basques, Sicily, Peru, Paris, India's Untouchables, Bollywood, and the urban elephants of Thailand. His talent as an artist is enhanced by his gift as a writer, and his running commentary gives additional depth to the images. He is unique as a photographer in saying: Words and pictures can work together to communicate more powerfully than either alone.