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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517 Items found Print
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1846 - Portrait of the Nation
by Smithsonian Institute
from Smithsonian Books
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
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Abraham Lincoln in Peace and War
by Earl Schenck Miers
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Abraham Lincoln's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
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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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Adventures of Davy Crockett
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Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Other Stories
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Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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Africa's Vanishing Wildlife
by Chris & Tilde Stuart
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After the Dancing Days
by Margaret I. Rostkowski
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Age of Fighting Sail
by C. S. Forester
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Air Forces of the World
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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Alone Yet Not Alone
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Mti from Zonderkidz
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America and Its People
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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
from Reader's Digest
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American Barns and Covered Bridges
by Eric Sloane
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American Civil War
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American Covenant
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American Heritage History of the American Revolution
by Bruce Lancaster
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American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
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American Waterways: Canal Days
by Jeanne Munn Bracken, ed.
from History Compass
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American Yesterday
by Eric Sloane
15th Printing from Funk & Wagnalls
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Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
by Karen Zeinert
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Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry
by Tony Barnstone & Chou Ping, eds.
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Ancient Near East - Coloring Book
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Ancient Rome
Discoveries Series
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Andersonville
by MacKinlay Kantor
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1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
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Anno's Journey
by Mitsumasa Anno
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Atlas of the Islamic World
by Francis Robinson
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Atlas of the North American Indian
by Carl Waldman
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Australia
by Gary Lewis
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Australia: Beyond the Black Stump
by Gary Lewis
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Autobiography by Booker T. Washington
Sons of Liberty Series
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Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Dover Thrift Editions
by Benjamin Franklin
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Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
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Aztec and Maya Myths
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B. Franklin, Printer
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Battle from the Start
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Battle of Gettysburg
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Beggar's King
by Howard C. Emmons
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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
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Behind the Blue and Gray
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Beric the Briton
by G. A. Henty
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Beyond the Desert Gate
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Mary Ray
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Beyond the Sacred Page
Book of Books #2
by Jack Cavanaugh
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Biography of Benjamin Franklin
Sons of Liberty Series
by William M. Thayer
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Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
by William Thayer
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Birds of the Puget Sound Region
by Dennis Paulson
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Black Man in America
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Black Symbol
by Annabel & Edgar Johnson
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Blackbird Girls
by Anne Blankman
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Blow Ye Winds Westerly
by Elizabeth Gemming
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Bomb
by Steve Sheinkin
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2013 Newbery Honor Book
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Bonanza Girl
by Patricia Beatty
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Bonnie Prince Charlie
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Book of Discovery
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Borrowed House
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Hilda Van Stockum
from Purple House Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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Boston
from Crescent Books
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Brethren
by H. Rider Haggard
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Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
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1962 Newbery Medal winner
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Buffalo Bill
by Helen Cody Wetmore
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Building a City On a Hill
To Pledge Allegiance #2
by Gary DeMar, Fred Douglas Young & Gary L. Todd
from American Vision Press
World History Reference for 8th-11th grade
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Butter in the Well: Historical Diary 1868-1888
by Linda K. Hubalek
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By Right of Conquest
by G. A. Henty
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C.S. Lewis
Men of Faith
by Catherine Swift
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Calico Captive
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
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Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
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1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Carver: A Life In Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
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2002 Newbery Honor Book
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Character for Life
by Don Hawkinson
for 7th-12th grade
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Cheer the Lonesome Traveller
by Leslie Alexander Lacy, illustrated by James Barkley
from Dial Press
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Chickamauga
by Glenn Tucker
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Chief Joseph Country
by Bill Gulick
3rd Printing 1994 from Caxton Press
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Children of the River
by Linda Crew
from Laurel-Leaf Books
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Children of the River
by Linda Crew
from Delacorte Press
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China's Later Dynasties
by Suzanne Strauss Art
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Chokra and Tags
by John Michael
from Macmillan
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Christian Life and Character of the Civil United States
by Benjamin F. Morris
from American Vision Press
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Civil War Battles
by Curt Johnson
1st edition from Crescent Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Book of Facts
by Frank Burd
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Civil War Songbook
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War: 1850-1895
American History by Era Volume 5
by Auriana Ojeda, book editor
from Greenhaven Press
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance
by John R. Hale
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Classical Rome
by John D. Clare, ed.
from Harcourt Children's Books
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Claudette Colvin
by Philip Hoose
from Square Fish Publishing
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2010 Newbery Honor Book, 2010 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book, National Book Award
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Cloud Over Hiroshima
by Burt Hirschfeld, jacket & maps by Barry Martin
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$25.00 (1 in stock)
Codfish Musket
by Agnes Hewes, illustrated by Armstrong Sperry
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
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1937 Newbery Honor Book
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial American Home Life
by John F. Warner
from Franklin Watts
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
Colonial Experience
A Basic History of the United States Volume 1
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$17.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Period: 1607-1750
American History by Era Volume 2
by Brenda Stalcup (editor)
from Greenhaven Press
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$11.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Wars Source Book
by Philip J. Haythornthwaite
from Cassell
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in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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Concise History of Ireland
by Fitzroy Maclean
3 Sub from Thames and Hudson
for 9th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Constitution
American Symbols and their Meanings
by Hal Marcovitz
from Mason Crest Publishers
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in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Constitutional Law for Enlightened Citizens - Text
by Michael Farris
2nd edition from Home School Legal Defense Association
for 9th-Adult
in Government & Civics Curriculum (Location: GOV-CUR)
$38.00 (1 in stock)
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