Founded in 1949, American Heritage magazine quickly established itself as the leading voice of American history. Edited by Pulitzer Prize-winner Bruce Catton, it published distinguished writing by authors such as Stephen Ambrose, Daniel Boorstin, Henry Steele Commanger, Malcolm Cowley, John Dos Passos, John F. Kennedy, William Manchester, Samuel Eliot Morrison, J.H. Plumb, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Barbara Tuchman, and many others.
By the mid 1960s, the company employed approximately 300 people, with American Heritage as a flagship for the direct marketing of history books. One series they published was the Junior Library, finishing with a total of 41 titles. These attractive hardbound books present young readers with most of the important, and many lesser-known, events and figures in United States history, all of them engagingly written and full of beautiful color illustrations ranging from photographs to oil paintings. Because there's so much information, and most entries are divided into digestible sections, these make excellent flip-through books for free time or a rainy day.
Because each title is topic-specific, these also make excellent resources for research projects. And because kids love reading about pirates, outlaws, Indians, and the circus, the American Heritage Junior Library is a great way to get them more interested in history by providing them with factual information on the subjects they already love. A great addition to any library, and lots of fun to collect.
If you're more interested in people and events from world history, check out the Horizon Caravel series.
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