(CNN) -- Imagine climbing aboard a time machine that can instantly transport you to a courtroom for a front row seat at the 1692 Salem witch trials, the bloody 1863 Battle of Gettysburg or into the cockpit of Charles Lindbergh's The Spirit of St. Louis on his historic 1927 trans-Atlantic flight.

That challenge is met in a new book, "Our Nation's Archive - The History of the United States in Documents" (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers), a collection of documents the chronicle and define the shared cultural heritage of the United States.

Without rendering judgement, this objective and unbiased compilation presents all the significant ideas, dissent, reflections and descriptions that shaped our nation - even before it was one -- presenting them for the reader to browse, reference, analyze and interpret individually.

Virtually every aspect of American life is included - political, social, religious, cultural - from the New World before the arrival of Christopher Columbus through space exploration, the Internet and impeachment. Cold hard historical facts are illuminated and illustrated in more than 500 letters, speeches, articles, transcriptions and court documents. This historical reference provides context and perspective, giving a face and a voice to the daunting number of facts and figures that Americans memorized from grade school through high school.

In a style reminiscent of the old television series, "You Are There," the reader is transported to Colonial America via transcript and experiences the rampant religious persecution and mass hysteria of a Salem witch trial. Even the critically acclaimed film "Saving Private Ryan" cannot provide more insight into the futility of war than the grim memoirs of GI Bob Slaughter as he landed on Omaha Beach as part of the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Generations are spanned and recent -- albeit tragic -- history is brought to life. The racial discrimination and civil rights struggle is documented in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letters From A Birmingham City Jail, " the poignant response to his child's question, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"

The reader will find the historic Roe vs. Wade ruling in which the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion; a feminist leaflet protesting the Miss America pageant, Title IX which barred gender-based discrimination in athletic programs and Ralph Nader's unprecedented indictment of auto manufacturers, "Unsafe At Any Speed."

Political events are well-represented by the invasion of Kuwait, which triggered the Gulf War; Newt Gingrich's Contract With America; the resignation of Richard Nixon and the impeachment and acquittal of William Jefferson Clinton.

Organized chronologically and divided by subject headings ("1861-1865: Civil War and a New Birth of Freedom", "1961-1974: Dreams - Realized and Lost", etc.) all documents are cross-referenced in indices allowing readers to locate their favorites by author and title quickly from among 851 pages of material.

Most compelling is the portrait of America that "Our Nation's Archive" paints, using her sons and daughters as the artists. Some are famous, many are not; but their words are compelling, their emotions heartfelt and their words resounding as each lends truth and personal perspective to the canvas of our shared national existence.