Regional History

Once upon a time, schoolchildren could be expected to know the name of the mountains separating France from Spain, the location of the Nile River, the capitals of all fifty states, and what and where the Pampas could be found. Now, even adults have a hard time naming the most populous city in the U.S. or the countries of Asia. These are, indeed, sad times, and doomed to become sadder if this geographic ignorance is not turned to knowledge.

Without a firm grasp on geography, how can we expect to know anything about history? History is rooted in a sense of place. Why did the Union troops lose the Battle of Cold Harbor? Because they were attacking Confederate fortifications uphill. And if you don't know anything about the Alps, the fact that Hannibal's army crossed them with elephants won't surprise you near as much as it should. Understanding the physical terrain and the demographics of an area are essential to understanding the history of that region.

Which is why studying history by place is such a good idea. There are cultural considerations, of course, and these can be immensely helpful guides in their own right, but simply looking at the lay of the land so to speak will provide a sense of context more abstract boundaries never can. African history, for instance, makes so much more sense if you know what the continent is like.

Even cultures are influenced by geography. Take the United States: some of the most important advances in transportation technology happened within her borders largely due to necessity. The steam engine train was perfected here, automobiles and airplanes were invented here, and in the last few decades we've led the world in space exploration.

It's not that no one traveled before the 19th and 20th century, or outside the North American continent—it's just that because the new nation was so vast, and there were so many natural barriers (the Mississippi River, the Grand Tetons and Great Smokey Mountains, the Mojave Desert), new forms of getting from here to there were not only a good idea, they were a necessity.

There probably isn't one instance in the history of the world in which geography and events weren't directly tied. Certainly this is true for military history, and exploration, and agriculture, but it's also true of ideas and ideologies. Part of the reason slavery was such an important part of Southern culture in the U.S. was that cotton was an immensely growable crop and only armies of slaves could be counted on to get all the work done; in order to justify the use of forced labor, however, a philosophical ethos was developed.

Other instances may be more obscure, but no less true. In France, the mild climate and fertile country led to a series of approaches to thought that emphasized experience and the pursuit of pleasure for its own sake (particularly existentialism); in ancient Greece, the geographical isolation enforced by mountains and seas allowed democratic polity to emerge among the city states.

Geography and history are pretty much Siamese twins, and academic technology has not advanced to the point where they can be separated without risk of life to both. We've organized the subcategories in this section along pretty standard lines (continents, countries, and the like), but standards arise because they work. Explore a region you're unfamiliar with; you're likely to uncover quite a few surprises.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.  Read more of his reviews here.
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1,805 Items found Print
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1,001 Things Everyone Should Know About American History
by John A. Garraty
1st edition from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
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10,000 Days of Thunder
by Philip Caputo
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1846 - Portrait of the Nation
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20 Plays for U. S. History Classes
by Dean R. Bowman
Revised from Walch Publishing
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20th Century Wars
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50 States Flipper
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501 Must-Visit Cities
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A Christmas Carol Audio Drama - 2 CD set
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Abraham Lincoln & Frederick Douglass
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Abraham Lincoln in Peace and War
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Abraham Lincoln's World
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1945 Newbery Honor Book
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1945 Newbery Honor Book
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Across Five Aprils
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Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
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1965 Newbery Honor Book
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Adam and His Kin
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Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
by Chester G. Hearn
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Admiral of the Ocean Sea
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Adventures and Discoveries of Marco Polo
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Adventures in the Wilderness
by Rutherford Hayes Platt
from Troll Associates
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Adventures of Buffalo Bill
by Col. William F. Cody
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Adventures of Captain Bonneville
by Washington Irving, illustrated by Robert Reynolds
Klickitat from Binford & Mort Publishing
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Adventures of Davy Crockett
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Puffin Classics
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Mark Twain
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Sterling Classics
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Scott McKowen
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$14.95
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Children's Classics
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Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
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Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Norman Rockwell
from Heritage Press
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Puffin Classics
by Mark Twain
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$10.00
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Worth Brehm
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Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles
from Penguin Putnam
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$19.00
Africa's Vanishing Wildlife
by Chris & Tilde Stuart
1st edition from Smithsonian Books
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African Kingdoms
Great Ages of Man
by Basil Davidson
from Time-Life Books
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After the Dancing Days
by Margaret I. Rostkowski
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After Tupac & D Foster
by Jacqueline Woodson
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2009 Newbery Honor Book
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Age of Exploration
Great Ages of Man
by John R. Hale
from Time-Life Books
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Age of Fighting Sail
by C. S. Forester
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American Naval History for 8th-Adult
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Age of Fighting Sail
by C. S. Forester
1st edition from Doubleday & Company
American Naval History for 8th-Adult
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Age of Kings
Great Ages of Man
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Air Forces of the World
by Sue Butterworth, editor
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Air War Against Hitler's Germany
by Stephen W. Sears
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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Alamo
Perspectives on History Series
by Mary Dodson Wade, editor
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Alaska Gold Rush
Landmark #92
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Alaska, the Yukon and British Columbia Ghost Towns
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Album of Memories
by Tom Brokaw
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Album of the Civil War
by William Loren Katz
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Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
Landmark #85
by Russel & Anna Crouse
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All He Knew
by Helen Frost
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All That Glitters
Perspectives on History Series
by Phyllis Raybin Emert
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All Through the Ages
by Christine Miller
3rd edition from Nothing New Press
World History Reference for All grades
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Amelia Earhart
Lives to Remember
by Burke Davis
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
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America and Its People
by Laureat Bernard,Ralph Brande, Don Sharkey
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America and Vietnam
by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Non-Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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America During Four Wars
by Earl Schenck Miers & Felix Sutton
from Grosset & Dunlap
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America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson, illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher
from William Morrow & Company
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America in the Air War
by Edward Jablonski
from Time-Life Books
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America Is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
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1960 Newbery Honor Book
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America's Fascinating Indian Heritage
by James A. Maxwell
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America's First World War
Landmark #77
by Henry Castor
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America's God and Country
by William J. Federer
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America's National Battlefield Parks
by Joseph E. Stevens
from University of Oklahoma Press
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America: The First 350 Years - MP3 CD
by Steve Wilkins
from Covenant Publications
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American Civil War
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American Covenant
by Marshall Foster
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American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
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American Heritage History of the American Revolution
by Bruce Lancaster
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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American History in Verse
by Burton Stevenson
from Bob Jones University Press
Poetry for 3rd-Adult
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$11.00
American History to 1865 - CD Set
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
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$119.00
American Revolution
Landmark #83
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
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American Story
from Curtis Publishing Co.
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American Waterways: Canal Days
by Jeanne Munn Bracken, ed.
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Americans Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Baity, illustrated by C.B. Falls
from Viking Press
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1952 Newbery Honor Book
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Amistad
by Helen Kromer
from The Pilgrim Press
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Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
by Karen Zeinert
from Linnet Books
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Amy Carmichael of Donhavur
by Frank L. Houghton
from CLC Publications
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Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry
by Tony Barnstone & Chou Ping, eds.
from Anchor Books
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Ancient America
Great Ages of Man
by Jonathan Norton Leonard
from Time-Life Books
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in Great Ages of Man (Location: ADU-HISGAM)
Ancient China
Great Ages of Man
by Edward H. Schafer
from Time-Life Books
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in Great Ages of Man (Location: ADU-HISGAM)
Ancient China: To the Great Wall...and Beyond
by Judy Wilcox
from Zeezok Publishing
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$13.95
Ancient Civilizations & the Bible - Student Manual
by Diana Waring
from Diana Waring Presents
History Curriculum for 4th-9th grade
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Ancient Near East - Coloring Book
from Bellerophon Books
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Rome
by Richard Maybury
2nd edition from Bluestocking Press
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in Uncle Eric books (Location: ECON-ERIC)
$11.95
Ancient Rome
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 5th-12th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
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$24.95 $17.50 (2 in stock)
Ancient Rome
Discoveries Series
by Dr. Paul C. Roberts
from Barnes & Noble
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Times
by Suzanne Strauss Art
from Pemblewick Press
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in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
Andersonville
by MacKinlay Kantor
from World Publishing Company
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1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel
Landmark #80
by Katherine B. Shippen
from Random House
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Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
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$14.95
Anne Bradstreet
Christian Renegades Series
by Doug Wilson
3rd edition from Canon Press
Biography for
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$16.95
Anne Bradstreet
by Faith Cook
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
from Scholastic Inc.
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank, translated by B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt
Book Club Edition from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Anne of Green Gables
Sterling Classics
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
Anne #1
by L. M. Montgomery
Reprint from Puffin Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
Anno's Journey
by Mitsumasa Anno
from Puffin Books
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in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Anno's Journey
by Mitsumasa Anno
from Beautiful Feet Books
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$14.95
Annotated African American Folktales
by Henry Louis Gates & Maria Tatar
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-Adult
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