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Landmark Books

Most of our Landmarks books are reader copies only, and are usually less than the marked price. Collectors: please call or email if you're looking for specific editions or dust jackets!

Landmark Books was a children's book series published by Random House from 1950 to 1970, featuring stories of significant people and events in American history written by popular authors at the time (see: American Landmark Books). The series expanded in 1953 to include world history as a sub-series called World Landmark Books, and a second sub-series of larger-format books illustrated with color artwork or black and white photographs was introduced in the 1960s as Landmark Giants, which would continue releasing new titles beyond the end of the main series until 1974. A number titles from the American and World series have been reissued or republished by others in paperback (see: Landmark Reprints) and a few new titles covering topics like civil rights and terrorism were added from the 1980s to the early 2000s (see: Second Series Landmarks).

Volumes in the initial run of the American, World, and Giant series were numbered, and a list of titles was printed on the inside of each book's dust jacket. The series would grow to include 122 American, 63 World, and 25 Giant volumes by noted authors like C. S. Forester, Robert Penn Warren, Pearl S. Buck, Quentin Reynolds, MacKinlay Kantor, Shirley Jackson, Daniel J. Boorstin, and many others.

A blurb printed on the jacket of later entries in the series by Millicent Taylor, former Education Editor for The Christian Science Monitor, described the Landmark Books as being intended for ages ten to fifteen, uniformly under 200 pages, and illustrated with maps and drawings.

David Spear, writing in the American Historical Association's news magazine, says that the series "lured an entire generation of young readers" to the history discipline, "including many of today's professional historians."

"The Landmark Books are a series of non-fiction books published by Random House in the fifties and early sixties. Simply put, the Landmark series is the best collection of children's histories ever written. As a jacket blurb on an old edition stated, the reasons [for the series' popularity] are obvious: good writers and important and appealing subjects from America's past.

There are three main divisions in the Landmark books: 

  • Books covering American history, usually just called Landmarks.
    There are 122 of these, originally published in matching cloth covers with dust jackets until number 103, at which point the series switched to pictorial covers and no dust jackets. The Seabees of World War II is the only book that originally came with both a pictorial cover and a dust jacket. Some of the earlier books in the series were later reprinted with pictorial covers.
  • Books covering world history, called World Landmarks.
    There are 63 of these. The first 52 have cloth covers and dust jackets. 53-63 only came in pictorial covers.
  • Larger books covering wider swaths of history, groups of people, and specific cities/regions, called Landmark Giants.
    There are 25 of these. Some of them are numbered, but not all are, so it's hard to tell the "order." Also, these are not consistently labeled as "Landmark Giants."
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Historians.org: A History of the Landmark Books
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Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House
Landmark #61
by Sterling North
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Adventures and Discoveries of Marco Polo
World Landmark #3
by Richard Walsh
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Adventures of Ulysses
World Landmark #40
by Gerald Gottlieb
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Ain't Gonna Study War No More
by Milton Meltzer
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
Alaska Gold Rush
Landmark #92
by May McNeer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
Landmark #85
by Russel & Anna Crouse
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Alexander the Great
World Landmark #2
by John Gunther
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
America's First World War
Landmark #77
by Henry Castor
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
American Heroes of the 20th Century
Landmark Giant #14
by Harold & Doris Faber
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
American Indian
Landmark Giant #3
by William Brandon, adapted by Anne Terry White
from Random House
for 4th-8th grade
in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
American Revolution
Landmark #83
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
American Sports Heroes of Today
Landmark Giant #22
by Frederic Katz
from Random House
for 4th-8th grade
in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
Americans Into Orbit
Landmark #101
by Gene Gurney
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Americans to the Moon
Landmark Giant #20
by Gene Gurney
from Random House
for 4th-8th grade
in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel
Landmark #80
by Katherine B. Shippen
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
As Far as the Eye Can Reach
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
from Random House
Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
Balboa: Swordsman and Conquistador
World Landmark #25
by Felix Riesenberg, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Barbary Pirates
Landmark #31
by C. S. Forester
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Battle for Iwo Jima
Landmark #118
by Robert Leckie
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Battle for the Atlantic
Landmark #87
by Jay Williams
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Battle of Britain
World Landmark #10
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Battle of the Bulge
Landmark #114
by John Toland
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
from Random House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark #28
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Ben-Gurion and the Birth of Israel
World Landmark #62
by Joan Comay
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Betsy Ross and the Flag
Landmark #26
by Jane Mayer
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Buffalo Bill's Great Wild West Show
Landmark #73
by Walter Havighurst, illustrated by John C. Wonsetler
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Landmark #9
by Adele Nathan, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Spencer Press Landmark #9 (RH#9)
by Adele Nathan
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
California Gold Rush
Landmark #6
by May McNeer & Lynd Ward
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
California Gold Rush
Spencer Press Landmark #7 (RH#6)
by May McNeer & Lynd Ward
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Captain Cook Explores the South Seas
World Landmark #19
by Armstrong Sperry
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Captain Cortés Conquers Mexico
World Landmark #45
by William Johnson
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Catherine the Great
World Landmark #29
by Katharine Scherman
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Chief of the Cossacks
World Landmark #39
by Harold Lamb
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Clara Barton
Landmark #58
by Helen Dore Boylston
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Cleopatra of Egypt
World Landmark #50
by Leonora Hornblow
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Clipper Ship Days
Landmark #22
by John Jennings
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Combat Nurses of World War II
Landmark #116
by Wyatt Blassingame, illustrated by Gil Walker
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Coming of the Mormons
Landmark #37
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Commandos of World War II
World Landmark #61
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Commandos of World War II
World Landmark #61
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
Commodore Perry and the Opening of Japan
Landmark #56
by Ferdinand Kuhn
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Conquest of the North and South Poles
Landmark #27
by Russell Owen, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Continent We Live On
Landmark Giant #2
by Ivan T. Sanderson
from Random House
for 4th-8th grade
in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
Copper Kings of Montana
Landmark #95
by Marian T. Place
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Crusades, The
World Landmark #11
by Anthony West
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Custer's Last Stand
Landmark #20
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Daniel Boone: The Opening of the Wilderness
Landmark #21
by John Mason Brown
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Davy Crockett
Landmark #57
by Stewart H. Holbrook
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Day the Sky Fell
by Milton Meltzer
from Random House
for 6th-9th grade
in War on Terror (Location: HISA-21WT)
Dinosaur Bone War
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
from Random House
for 4th-7th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
Disaster at Johnstown: The Great Flood
Landmark #109
by Hildegarde Dolson
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Doctors Who Conquered Yellow Fever
Landmark #78
by Ralph Nading Hill
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Dolly Madison
Landmark #47
by Jane Mayer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Landmark #108
by Malcolm Moos
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Early Days of Automobiles
Landmark #68
by Elizabeth Janeway
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Erie Canal
Landmark #34
by Samuel Hopkins Adams
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys
Landmark #66
by Slater Brown
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Evangeline and the Acadians
Landmark #74
by Robert Tallant
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Exploits of Xenophon
World Landmark #18
by Geoffrey Household
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Explorations of Père Marquette
Landmark #17
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Exploring the Himalaya
World Landmark #36
by William O. Douglas
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Fall of Constantinople
World Landmark #30
by Bernadine Kielty
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Famous Pirates of the New World
World Landmark #35
by A. B. C Whipple
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
FBI Story
Landmark Giant #1
by Don Whitehead, foreword by J. Edgar Hoover
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
Ferdinand Magellan
World Landmark #31
by Seymour Gates Pond
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
First Men in the World
World Landmark #1
by Anne Terry White
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
First Overland Mail
Landmark #40
by Robert E. Pinkerton
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
First Transatlantic Cable
Landmark #88
by Adele Nathan
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Flat-tops: The Story of Aircraft Carriers
Landmark #121
by Edmund Castillo
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Flight and Adventures of Charles II
World Landmark #38
by Charles Norman, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Florence Nightingale
World Landmark #46
by Ruth Fox Hume
from Random House
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Flying Aces of World War I
World Landmark #60
by Gene Gurney
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Flying Tigers
Landmark #105
by John Toland
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
French Foreign Legion
World Landmark #22
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
From Casablanca to Berlin
Landmark #112
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa
Landmark #94
by Bruce Bliven
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Garibaldi: Father of Modern Italy
World Landmark #32
by Marcia Davenport
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
General Brock and Niagra Falls
World Landmark #28
by Samuel Hopkins Adams
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Genghis Kahn and the Mongol Horde
World Landmark #12
by Harold Lamb
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
George Washington Carver
Landmark #38
by Anne Terry White
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
George Washington: Frontier Colonel
Landmark #71
by Sterling North
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Geronimo: Wolf of the Warpath
Landmark #81
by Ralph Moody, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Gettysburg
Landmark #23
by MacKinlay Kantor, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Gettysburg
Landmark #23
by MacKinlay Kantor, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Golden Age of Railroads
Landmark #93
by Stewart H. Holbrook
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Great American Battles
Landmark Giant #17
by Robert Leckie
from Random House
for 4th-8th grade
in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II
Landmark #96
by Robert D. Loomis
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Great Men of Medicine
World Landmark #49
by Ruth Fox Hume, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg
from Random House
Science biographies for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Great Moments in American Sports
Landmark Giant #24
by Jerry Brondfield
from Random House
for 4th-8th grade
in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
Guadalcanal Diary
Landmark #55
by Richard Tregaskis
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Hawaii, Gem of the Pacific
Landmark #49
by Oscar Lewis
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
Hear that Train Whistle Blow!
by Milton Meltzer
from Random House
for 5th-7th grade
in History of Railroads (Location: HISA-19TRR)
Hero of Trafalgar
World Landmark #55
by A. B. C. Whipple
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Heroines of the Early West
Landmark #91
by Nancy Wilson Ross
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Hudson's Bay Company
World Landmark #24
by Richard Morenus
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Jesus of Nazareth
World Landmark #42
by Harry Emerson Fosdick
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Joan of Arc
World Landmark #4
by Nancy Ross
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
John F. Kennedy and PT-109
Landmark #99
by Richard Tregaskis
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
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