Inside U.S.A. (book)

Inside U.S.A.

Cover of the first edition (1947)
Author	John Gunther
Publisher	Harper & Brothers
Publication date	May 1947
Pages	979
ISBN

Inside U.S.A. is a nonfiction book by John Gunther, first published in 1947 and one of that year's best-selling nonfiction books in the United States. It describes the author's observations during 13 months of travel through the 48 U.S. states beginning in November 1944.

Inside U.S.A. was the fourth in a series of highly successful "Inside" books written by Gunther. The series began in 1936 with Inside Europe, based on Gunther's experience as a journalist in Europe and described as "a cross between reportage and armchair travel literature." The book sold over 500,000 copies. It was followed by Inside Asia in 1939 and Inside Latin America in 1941.

Gunther started to plan Inside U.S.A. as early as 1936, when his idea was to create a two-part book, with the first part focused on the power structure of Washington, DC, and the second part a "snapshot" of the entirety of the United States. He did not begin serious work on the project until 1944, by which time his plan was to write about America from the perspective of an outsider. After living outside the country for more than a decade, he considered himself to have become an outsider. He joked that he was "writing for the man from Mars" and that he also was from Mars. In November 1944, after studying U.S. statistics, signing a book contract with a publisher and a second contract under which Reader's Digest would publish excerpts while he was still writing, and sending a list of questions and interview requests to the governor of every state, he set out to tour the country and interview its prominent citizens, including business leaders, politicians, writers, and academics.

Gunther's journey took him to more than 300 communities in all 48 states, including 38 of the 43 U.S. cities that had populations greater than 200,000. By the time of the trip, Gunther was very well known as a journalist and author. His celebrity status not only gave him unusual access to many prominent people, but it also caused his travels to receive a great deal of public attention. Local newspapers often covered his visits in front-page news stories. Some civic leaders and politicians who had not been asked to give interviews sought him out in hopes that their perspectives would not be omitted from his book. Gunther became so engrossed in the project that in April 1945 he declined an opportunity to go to Europe just before V-E Day, even though he had spent a significant part of his journalism career as a foreign correspondent in Europe, covering the situations and events that led up to World War II.