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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¡Viva México!
by Argentina Palacios, illustrated by Howard Berelson
from Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishing
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
About Our Flag
by Elinor Rees; illustrated by Jerome W. Bowen
from Melmont Publishers
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Abraham Lincoln
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Civil War
by Susan Dye Lee, illustrated by Ralph Canaday
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Acadia National Park
Road Trip: National Parks
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Akavak
by James Houston
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Lives to Remember
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Revolution!
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American Revolution Primary Sources
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Among the Plains Indians
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People of the Ancient World
by Allison Lassieur
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Art of the Woodland Indians
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Asian Crafts
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Bad News for Outlaws
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Battle of the Little Bighorn
by R. Conrad Stein
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Battle of Valcour Bay
Triangle Histories: The Revolutionary War
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Bears, Pirates and Silver Lace
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See and Read: Beginning to Read Biography
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Benjamin Bonneville, Soldier-Explorer
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Makers of America
by Ruth Cromer Weir, illustrated by Rus Anderson
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Beric the Briton
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Big Wave
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Biography of Tea
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Black Hawk, Sac Rebel
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Land of the Free Series
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Bonnie Prince Charlie
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Booker T. Washington
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Great Journeys
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Camels West
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Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs
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Chokra and Tags
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Christian History of the American Revolution
by Verna Hall & Rosalie Slater
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Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America - Volume I
by Verna Hall
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by Verna Hall
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Christmas on the Prairie
by Joan. Anderson
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Christopher Columbus and His Legacy
Opposing Viewpoints Series
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Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
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City! San Francisco
by George Ancona, Shirley Climo
from Simon and Schuster
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by Zachary Kent
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Claim to the Wilderness
by Peter John Stephens
First Edition, First Printing from W. W. Norton and Co.
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Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse
Historical American Biographies
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Cliff Dwellers of Walnut Canyon
by Carroll Lane Fenton and Alice Epstein, illustrated by Albert Orbaan and Carroll Lane Fenton
from The John Day Company
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Colonial People: The Silversmith
by Wil Mara
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Colonial Places
by Sarah Howarth
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Confederate Girl: The Diary of Carrie Berry, 1864
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American Symbols and their Meanings
by Hal Marcovitz
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Cook: Captain James Cook Charts the Pacific Ocean
by Jean Kinney Williams
from Compass Point Books
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Countries of the World: Sweden
by Janet Riehecky
from Bridgestone Books
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Country Boy
by Homer Davenport
from M. A. Donohue & Company
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$18.00 (1 in stock)
Cowboy Soldier
by Donald Russell, illustrated by Max Ranft
from Benefic Press
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Crazy Horse: The Story of an American Indian
by John R. Milton
Second Printing 1975 from Dillon Press
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Cuba
Countries of the World
by William P. Mara
from Bridgestone Books
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Customs and Fashions in Old New England
by Alice Morse Earle
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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Dakota Dugout
by Ann Turner; illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Macmillan
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Dark Venture
by Audrey White Beyer, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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Dear Levi
by Elvira Woodruff
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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Doctors
Colonial American Craftsmen
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Franklin Watts
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Dog Crusoe
by R. M. Ballantyne
from Vision Forum
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Dracula
Everyman's Library
by Bram Stoker
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Drinking Gourd
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperCrest
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Dust Bowl
by Patricia Lauber
Cadmus Edition from E.M. Hale and Company
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Early American Industrial Revolution
Let Freedom Ring
by Katie Bagley
from Bridgestone Books
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Eliza Pinckney
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee
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Empire State Building
by Meish Goldish
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Eskimo
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Patricia Boodell
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Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
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in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys
Landmark #66
by Slater Brown
from Random House
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Fairy Tales from the Philippines
by Dorothy Lewis Robertson (reteller), illustrated by Howard M. Burns
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
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Fall of Constantinople
by Ruth Tenzer Feldman
from Twenty-first Century Books
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan
by Milton Meltzer
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Ferdinand Magellan and the Discovery of the World Ocean
by Rebecca Stefoff
from Chelsea House Publishing
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Ferdinand Magellan and the First Voyage Around the World
by Jim Gallagher
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Festivals of the World: Trinidad
by Royston Ellis, edited by Fiona Conboy
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First Book of Ancient Rome
by Charles Alexander Robinson, Jr., Revised by Lorna Greenberg
Revised Edition from Franklin Watts
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First Book of the American Revolution
by Richard B. Morris
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First Steamboat on the Mississippi
North Star Books #31
by Sterling North
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Flag of the Dreadful Bear
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
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Follow the Dream
by Peter Sís
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For the Temple
by G. A. Henty
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Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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For the Temple
by G. A. Henty
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Forts in the Wilderness
by Edith S. McCall
from Children's Press
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Fourth of July Story
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Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Francis Drake
by Ronald Syme
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Francisco Coronado and the Exploration of the American Southwest
Explorers of New Worlds
by Hal Marcovitz
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Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
Latinos in American History
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Freedom's Fruit
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From Sea to Shining Sea: Americans Move West 1846-1860
How America Became America
by Jack Rakove, Sheila Nelson
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