History

History CurriculumHistory Resources

As with most things, C.S. Lewis had a unique view of history. For him, the really important bits were the stories—he makes a distinction between actual historical realities and the idealized versions of them handed down which make heroes and villains of mere men and women. It's not that the stories are completely false, but their value is for character-building, not as factual data.

The tales of George Washington's bravery in battle, coolness under pressure, rigorous truthfulness, and unflagging piety may accurately preserve the essence of his temperament and nobility, but not all of them are strictly historical. The point of these stories isn't to impart facts, however, it's to offer an example of goodness for the rest of us to emulate.

Getting the facts right is still important, though. As Christians, we can't afford to have a false understanding of "the old days." Mankind is fallen, and the story of his sojourn on Earth is filled with war, suffering, disease, unfaithfulness, pride and envy; a study of history that omits those elements is both false and useless. False, because it is incomplete, and useless, because it tells us nothing of the human condition or our current situation.

It's a bit of a mystery to us why non-Christians are motivated to study the past. For believers, the end goal isn't just acquisition of facts about events and cultures, it's the instillation of a thoroughly Christian worldview, an understanding of the course of the human endeavour as decreed and guided by God Himself.

The story of Jesus Christ is central. It is the only history story that fulfills the character-building element Lewis looked for, while remaining absolutely true in every detail. Man is fallen and he does struggle against God, but through Christ there is hope of redemption, a chance to connect heaven and earth through the Atonement. Christ is the ultimate example of God's providence.

In the Reformed tradition, God's sovereignty is a very big deal. According to the doctrine of divine decree, God has ordered all things that were, are and will come to be for His own good pleasure and glory. His hand is thus present everywhere, in the privatest private life and the most public and widespread crisis. God is in control, providentially guiding nations, men, and the entire cosmos.

This very doctrine is perhaps what best explains the humanist's interest in history (whether he be atheist, agnostic, pagan). Man's natural bent is to make himself the hero of the story, to show how people can sway the trajectory of all things. God's version is quite different, and the two are naturally in conflict. Resolution may only be found in Christ.

For, while God decrees and guides all things, He has also (paradoxically) decreed man's free will and personal responsibility. Men do change the course of kingdoms, but it is only through God's agency. A proper Christian study of history takes both truths into account, and tells the stories of good guys and bad guys through the light of everything God's Word says about human nature and divine control.

We encourage you to take great comfort and joy in your study of history. Read books, watch movies (carefully noting that a lot of the story is likely to be inaccurate in detail), go on fieldtrips to forts and battlefields and birthplaces. Most of all, talk about these things. The end goal, after all, isn't to know a bunch of trivia, but to understand what God has done and continues to do.

No one knows for sure what the end of history will look like, except that every knee in heaven and on earth will bow to the returned glorious Christ, who comes to judge the living and the dead. What we believe about Him will determine whether that culmination will be filled with joy or loathing (everyone will be terrified). He is the author of history, and its centerpiece; honor Him in your study of it.

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: 11th grade (Ages 16-17), Used Books & Materials
100 Most Important Events in Christian History
by A. Kenneth Curtis, et al.
from Revell Publishing
Church History Reference for 9th-Adult
in Church History Overviews (Location: XCH-OVE)
$21.99 $11.50 (2 in stock)
1776
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
1846 - Portrait of the Nation
by Smithsonian Institute
from Smithsonian Books
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 4
by Nick R. Needham
2nd edition from Christian Focus Publications
Church History Reference for 11th-Adult
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
26 Letters
by Oscar Ogg
from Thomas Crowell
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
501 Must-Visit Cities
from Bounty Books
for 9th-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
by G. Frederick Owen
from Tyndale House
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Adams' Synchronological Chart or Map of History
by Sebastian Adams (editor)
from Master Books
for 5th-12th grade
in Timeline Resources (Location: HISRF-TIM)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
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in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Davy Crockett
by David Crockett, illustrated by John W. Thomason
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Other Stories
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Canterbury Classics
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Aeschylus I: The Oresteia (old)
The Complete Greek Tragedies
by Aeschylus (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
from University of Chicago
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Literature (Location: ZCLE-LIT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Aeschylus' Oresteia
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.45 $7.20 (1 in stock)
Aeschylus' Oresteian Trilogy
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus, translated by Phillip Vellacott
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$11.05 $5.60 (1 in stock)
Africans and Their History
by Joseph E. Harris
Revised
for 10th-Adult
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Age of Faith
Story of Civilization IV
by Will Durant
from Simon and Schuster
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Age of Fighting Sail
by C. S. Forester
1st edition from Doubleday & Company
American Naval History for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Age of Religious Wars
by Richard S. Dunn
2nd edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Age of Revolution III
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 5th-12th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Air Forces of the World
by Sue Butterworth, editor
from Chartwell Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Alexander Hamilton
by Ron Chernow
from Penguin Random House
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
All About Maps
from Gingko Press
for 6th-Adult
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
All Hands Aloft!
by Lou A. Schmitt
from Howell-North
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in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Alphabet Makers
by Hyatt Moore
from Wycliffe Bible Translators
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Amazing Grace
by Kenneth W. Osbeck
from Kregel Publications
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Amazing Mr. Doolittle
by Quentin Reynolds
from Appleton-Century-Crofts
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
America and Its People
by Laureat Bernard,Ralph Brande, Don Sharkey
from W. H. Sadlier
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in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
America Is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-12th grade
1960 Newbery Honor Book
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
America the Beautiful
by Ben Carson with Candy Carson
from Zondervan
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
America's Christian History
by Gary DeMar
2nd edition from American Vision Press
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
America's Heroes
from SP, L.L.C.
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
America's Longest War
by George C. Herring
2nd edition from McGraw-Hill
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Barns and Covered Bridges
by Eric Sloane
1st edition from Wilfred Funk, Inc.
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
American Civil War
by Robert K. Krick
from Osprey Publishing
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Covenant
by Marshall Foster
from Mayflower Institute
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
American Dream
by Stephen K. McDowell & Mark Beliles
from Providence Foundation
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the American Revolution
by Bruce Lancaster
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
American History - Student Edition
by James P. Stobaugh
Revised from Master Books
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$40.79 $35.00 (1 in stock)
American Indian Dances
by John L. Squires & Robert E. McLean
from The Ronald Press Co.
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Revolutionaries
by Milton Meltzer
from HarperCollins
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
American Ship Models and How to Build Them
by V. R. Grimwood, foreword by Howard I. Chapelle
from Bonanza Books
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in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Waterways: Canal Days
by Jeanne Munn Bracken, ed.
from History Compass
for 7th-12th grade
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$5.50 (1 in stock)
American Yesterday
by Eric Sloane
15th Printing from Funk & Wagnalls
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
An Introduction to Medieval Ivory Carvings
by Paul Williamson
from Her Majesty's Stationery Office
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in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry
by Tony Barnstone & Chou Ping, eds.
from Anchor Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Poetry Anthologies (Location: POET-ANTH)
$17.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient City
by Hazel Dodge, Peter Connolly
First Thus from Oxford University
for 8th-Adult
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Ancient Greece
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
for 5th-12th grade
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
$24.95 $17.50 (1 in stock)
Andersonville
by MacKinlay Kantor
from World Publishing Company
for 9th-Adult
1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Anne Bradstreet
by Heidi L. Nichols
from P&R Publishing
Biography for 10th-Adult
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$9.79 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Anno's Journey
by Mitsumasa Anno
from Puffin Books
for 2nd-Adult
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Annotated Mona Lisa (old)
by Carol Strickland
2nd edition from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-12th grade
in Clearance: Art & Music (Location: ZCLE-ART)
$16.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates
Dover Thrift Editions
by Patrick Henry & John DeWitt
from Dover Publications
American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
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Apollo on the Moon
by Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr.
from Dial Press
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Are We to Be a Nation?
by Richard B. Bernstein, with Kym S. Rice
from Harvard University Press
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in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Aristotle Leads the Way - Student's Quest Guide
by Joy Hakim
from Smithsonian Books
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$8.50 (4 in stock)
Arms and Armor Annual
by Robert Held
from Follett
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Arrow Pointing to Heaven
by James Bryan Smith
Revised from B&H Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Art of Art for Children's Books
by Diana Klemin
1st edition from Clarkson Potter Publishers
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Art of the Renaissance
by Peter and Linda Murray
1999 reprint from Thames and Hudson
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Arts of the Sailor
by Hervey Garrett Smith
Reprint from Dover Publications
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of the Islamic World
by Francis Robinson
from Facts On File
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of the North American Indian
by Carl Waldman
1st edition from Facts On File
for 9th-Adult
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of United States History
from Hammond World Atlas Corporation
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in Historical & Cultural Atlases (Location: HISRF-ATLAS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Australia
by Gary Lewis
from Peter Antill-Rose
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in Australia & Oceania (Location: HISMC-AU)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Australia: Beyond the Black Stump
by Gary Lewis
from Peter Antill-Rose
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Dover Thrift Editions
by James Weldon Johnson
from Dover Publications
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Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto Cellini
from International Collectors Library
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Charles G. Finney
by Charles G. Finney
from Bethany House
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Aztec and Maya Myths
by Karl Taube
from British Museum Press
for 6th-12th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (2 in stock)
Baby Blessing
by Welleran Poltarnees
from Laughing Elephant
for Kindergarten-Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Baker Atlas of Christian History
by Tim Dowley, Editor
from Baker Books
for 7th-Adult
in Historical & Cultural Atlases (Location: HISRF-ATLAS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Battle from the Start
by Brian Steel Wills
from HarperCollins
for 9th grade-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of Gettysburg
by Frank A. Haskell & William C. Oates
from Chapman Billies, Inc
Historical Non-fiction for 9th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Beat to Quarters
Hornblower Series #6
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14 $7.20 (1 in stock)
Beatles vs The Rolling Stones
by Jim Derogatis and Greg Kot
from Voyageur Press
for 9th-Adult
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Beginning of the Republic
A Basic History of the United States Volume 2
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
in Basic History of the United States (Location: HISCUR-BHUS)
$17.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Beginnings of Modern Science
by Holmes Boynton, editor
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
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in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Behind the Scenes
by Elizabeth Keckley, edited by Frances Smith Foster
from Lakeside Press
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin
by Carl Van Doren
from Library of America
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Beowulf
by Anonymous (translation by Frederick Rebsamen)
from HarperCollins
Medieval Poetic Epic for 8th-Adult
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Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Douglas Wilson
from Canon Press
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Best Known Gilbert & Sullivan Operas and Bab Ballads
by William Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan
from Halcyon House
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Beyond the Sacred Page
Book of Books #2
by Jack Cavanaugh
from Zondervan
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bible Then & Now
by Jenny Roberts
from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Big History Timeline Wallbook
by Christopher Lloyd, illustrated by Andy Forshaw
from What on Earth Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
in World History Reference (Location: HISW-REF)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Billy Budd, Sailor, and Other Stories
by Herman Melville
from Bantam Books
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.21 $2.00 (1 in stock)
Birds of the Puget Sound Region
by Dennis Paulson
from R. W. Morse Company
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Birth of the New Physics
by I. Bernard Cohen
Revised and Updated from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 11th-Adult
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Black Man in America
from Franklin Watts
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in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Black Odyssey
by Mary Cable
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Blackbeard
by Dan Parry
from Thunder's Mouth Press
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in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Blow Ye Winds Westerly
by Elizabeth Gemming
1st edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Bondage of the Will
by Martin Luther
from Revell Publishing
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$6.80 (1 in stock)
Book of Centuries (BC/AD Edition) - Hardcover
from Living Book Press
for 1st-12th grade
in Timeline Resources (Location: HISRF-TIM)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Composers
by Rebecca Manor
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 2nd-12th grade
in Beautiful Feet Books (Location: HISCUR-BFB)
$24.50 (1 in stock)
Book of Discovery
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-12th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$20.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Music
by Gill Rowley
from Bounty Books
for 8th-Adult
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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