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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Active Filters: 4th grade (Ages 9-10), Used Books & Materials
1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace
from National Geographic
for 4th-6th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
7 Continents: Africa
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
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7 Continents: Asia
by Jo Ellen Moore
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A Christmas Carol Audio Drama - 2 CD set
by Charles Dickens
from Focus on the Family
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-4th grade
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Across America
by Jacqueline Morley
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Adara
by Beatrice Gormley
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Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Lewis & Clark
by Jamie Aramini
from Geography Matters
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in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Perrine
Windermere Readers #10
by Hector Malot, translated by Gil Meynier, adapted by Edith Heal
1954 edition from Rand McNally
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in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures with the Santa Fe Trail
by Dave Webb, illustrated by Phillip R. Buntin
Revised from Kansas Heritage Center
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Africa For Kids
by Harvey Croze
from Chicago Review Press
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$17.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Air Raid - Pearl Harbor!
by Theodore Taylor
1st Gulliver Books pbk. ed from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 4th-6th grade
in WWII: Pacific Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2P)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Airplanes of the Second World War - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Carlo Demand
from Dover Publications
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Akavak
by James Houston
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Alamo!
by George Sullivan
from Scholastic Inc.
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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America At War: Korean War
by John Perritano
from Scholastic Inc.
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in Korean War (1950-1953) (Location: HISA-20KW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
America First updated
by Lawton B. Evans, Updated & Revised by Rachel Lebowitz
from Charlotte Mason Plenary LLC
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in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
America from the Beginning - Student Manual
by Joshua Franklin, Debbie Lawrence
from Answers in Genesis
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$29.00 (1 in stock)
America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
America In Korean War
by KidCaps
from BookCaps
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America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
America in the Time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
by Sally Senzel Isaacs
from Heinemann-Raintree
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in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Time of Lewis and Clark
by Sally Senzel Isaacs
from Heinemann-Raintree
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in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
from William Morrow & Company
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
America's Ethan Allen
by Stewart H. Holbrook; illustrated by Lynd Ward
9th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America's Lost Dream
by Tom Dooley
from Master Books
American History for 4th-6th grade
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$12.79 $10.00 (2 in stock)
American Adventures Part 1
by Morrie Greenberg
from Brooke-Richards Press
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in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
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American Adventures Part 2
by Morrie Greenberg
from Brooke-Richards Press
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in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
American Indian in Words and Pictures
by Sydney Fletcher
from Grosset & Dunlap
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American Indian Prayer Guide
by Danette Maloof, Dean Cozzens
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
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$4.50 (3 in stock)
American Indian Tales and Legends
by Vladimir Hulpach, illustrated by Miloslav Troup
from Paul Hamlyn
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
American Moments
by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Bruce Strachan
from Henry Holt and Company
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American Presidents & Presidential First Ladies Notebooking Pages
from Notebooking Pages
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American Revolution
America at War Series
by Alden Carter
from Grolier Publishing
Historical Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade
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American Revolution
Revolution!
by R. G. Grant
from Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishing
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Amethyst Ring
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
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Among the Plains Indians
from Lerner Publishing Group
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Amzat and His Brothers
by Paula Fox (reteller), illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Civilizations: China
Ancient Civilizations
by Valerie Bodden
Reprint from Creative Paperbooks
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Ancient Maya
by Lila Perl
from Children's Press
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Near East - Coloring Book
from Bellerophon Books
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in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Roman Art
by Susie Hodge
2nd edition from Heinemann Educational Books
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Romans
People of the Ancient World
by Allison Lassieur
from Franklin Watts
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Ancient Rome
Gifted Learning Series
by John H. Artman
from Good Apple
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$3.50 (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 Rome Activity Book
by Mary J. Keller
from Edupress
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in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient World: The Chinese
The Ancient World
by Pamela Odijk
from Macmillan
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in China (Location: HISMC-CHI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
by Jean Fritz & Margot Tomes
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Andie's Moon
Historical House: 1969
by Linda Newbery
from Educational Development Corporation
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Angel on the Square
by Gloria Whelan
from HarperCollins
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Anna and the King (adapted)
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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Anne Frank's Story
by Carol Ann Lee
from Puffin Books
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Anne of Avonlea
Anne #2
by L. M. Montgomery
from Aladdin Books
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Anne of Jamestown
by Anne Price-Hardister, illustrated by Ruby Gardner
from Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
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AppleSeeds: Amazon Adventures
from Cobblestone Publishing
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Appomattox
by Burke Davis
from HarperCollins
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Arabs in the Golden Age
by Mokhtar Moktefi & Veronique Ageorges
from Millbrook Press
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Arabs in the Golden Age
by Mokhtar Moktefi & Veronique Ageorges
from Avyx, Inc.
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$7.00 (2 in stock)
Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
Arrow Over the Door
by Joseph Bruchac
from Puffin Books
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Art and Civilization: Ancient Rome
Art and Civilization
by Giovanni Di Pasquale & Matilde Bardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
Roman History Reference for 4th-6th grade
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$12.00 (2 in stock)
Art of Keeping Cool
by Janet Taylor Lisle
from Scholastic Inc.
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2001 Scott O'Dell Award
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Art of the Southeastern Indians
by Shirley Glubok
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Art of the Woodland Indians
by Shirley Glubok
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Asian Crafts
by Judith Hoffman Corwin
from Franklin Watts
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Astrid the Unstoppable
by Maria Parr, translated from the Norwegian by Guy Puzey
from Candlewick Press
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of North American Exploration
by Glyndwr Williams, William H. Goetzmann
Oklahoma Paperbacks Ed from University of Oklahoma Press
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Australia and Oceania
True Books
by Mel Friedman
Reprint from Children's Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Australia & Oceania (Location: HISMC-AU)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Australia: Beyond the Black Stump
by Gary Lewis
from Peter Antill-Rose
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Awakening of Europe
Story of the World Series #3
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
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$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Aztecs
Journey Into Civilization
by Robert Nicholson and Claire Watts
from Chelsea House Publishing
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Aztecs & Incas
Sightseers Essential Travel Guides to the Past
by Camilla Reid
Har/Map from Kingfisher
for 2nd-5th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Baktar
by Laurie J. White
from Shorter Word Press
for 3rd-6th grade
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ballad of Lucy Whipple
by Karen Cushman
from HarperCollins
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
Bambi
by Felix Salten, illustrated by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$29.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Bat 6
by Virginia Euwer Wolff
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of the Little Bighorn
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of Valcour Bay
Triangle Histories: The Revolutionary War
by Scott Ingram
from Blackbirch Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bears, Pirates and Silver Lace
by Anne B. Fisher; illustrated by Phil Nesbitt
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum
by Ashley Bryan
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 3rd-7th grade
$9.99 $5.50 (5 in stock)
Beautiful Blue Jay and Other Tales of India
by John W. Spellman, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Beethoven Lives Upstairs
by Barbara Nichol
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in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
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$24.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
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in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Before the Gold Rush
from McClelland & Stewart Limited
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in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
by Patricia Beatty
from William Morrow & Company
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Behind the Blue and Gray
by Delia Ray
from Puffin Books
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ben and Me
by Robert Lawson
from Little, Brown & Company
Humor/historical fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
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Benjamin Franklin
Makers of America
by Ruth Cromer Weir, illustrated by Rus Anderson
from Abingdon Press
for 2nd-4th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer
by Augusta Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Bentwood Box
by Nan McNutt
from Sasquatch Books
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Best Bad Thing
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Best Little Stories from World War II
by C. Brian Kelly
1996 Printing from Montpelier Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
1st edition
for 4th-7th grade
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
from Hampton-Brown
for 4th-8th grade
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Big Book of the Civil War
by Joanne Mattern
from Courage Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers
by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula
from Golden Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Big Wave
by Pearl S. Buck
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
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