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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269 Items found Print
Active Filters: 10th grade (Ages 15-16), Hardcover, Used Books & Materials
1,001 Things Everyone Should Know About American History
by John A. Garraty
1st edition from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
1776
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln in Peace and War
by Earl Schenck Miers
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral of the Ocean Sea
by Samuel E. Morison
from Atlantic Monthly Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Africa's Vanishing Wildlife
by Chris & Tilde Stuart
1st edition from Smithsonian Books
for 5th-10th grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Age of Exploration
Great Ages of Man
by John R. Hale
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Great Ages of Man (Location: ADU-HISGAM)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Air Forces of the World
by Sue Butterworth, editor
from Chartwell Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$14.40 (1 in stock)
Album of the Civil War
by William Loren Katz
from Franklin Watts
for 7th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Amazing Mr. Doolittle
by Quentin Reynolds
from Appleton-Century-Crofts
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
America and Its People
by Laureat Bernard,Ralph Brande, Don Sharkey
from W. H. Sadlier
for 9th-12th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
America's Fascinating Indian Heritage
by James A. Maxwell
from Reader's Digest
for 7th-10th grade
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
America's God and Country
by William J. Federer
8th edition from Fame Publishing
for 7th-12th grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Barns and Covered Bridges
by Eric Sloane
1st edition from Wilfred Funk, Inc.
for 5th-Adult
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the American Revolution
by Bruce Lancaster
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Indian Dances
by John L. Squires & Robert E. McLean
from The Ronald Press Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
American Yesterday
by Eric Sloane
15th Printing from Funk & Wagnalls
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Americans Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Baity, illustrated by C.B. Falls
from Viking Press
for 5th-10th grade
1952 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.50 (1 in stock)
Andersonville
by MacKinlay Kantor
from World Publishing Company
for 9th-Adult
1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Archko Volume
by Drs. McIntosh and Twyman, translators
Reprint Edition from Keats Publishing, Inc
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Atlas of the Islamic World
by Francis Robinson
from Facts On File
for 9th-Adult
in Historical & Cultural Atlases (Location: HISRF-ATLAS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Australia
by Gary Lewis
from Peter Antill-Rose
for 6th-12th grade
in Australia & Oceania (Location: HISMC-AU)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Australia: Beyond the Black Stump
by Gary Lewis
from Peter Antill-Rose
for 3rd-Adult
in Australia & Oceania (Location: HISMC-AU)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto Cellini
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (2 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)
Beggar's King
by Howard C. Emmons
from Van Kampen Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$11.25 (1 in stock)
Behind the Scenes
by Elizabeth Keckley, edited by Frances Smith Foster
from Lakeside Press
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Beyond Stateliest Marble
Leaders in Action Series
by Doug Wilson
from Cumberland House
Biography for
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Black Heroes of the American Revolution
by Burke Davis
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 4th-10th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Black Man in America
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.63 (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)
$6.75 (1 in stock)
Boston
from Crescent Books
for 4th-Adult
in U.S. Monuments & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Brave Men
by Ernie Pyle
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.75 (1 in stock)
C. S. Lewis: A Life
by Alister McGrath
from Tyndale House
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$24.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Call of Duty
Leaders in Action Series
by Steve Wilkins
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$16.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
from Kingston House
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Carver: A Life In Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
2002 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Character for Life
by Don Hawkinson
for 7th-12th grade
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Cheer the Lonesome Traveller
by Leslie Alexander Lacy, illustrated by James Barkley
from Dial Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Chickamauga
by Horace Porter
from Konecky & Konecky
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Children of the River
by Linda Crew
from Delacorte Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Christian Life and Character of the Civil United States
by Benjamin F. Morris
from American Vision Press
for 9th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Battles
by Curt Johnson
1st edition from Crescent Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War: 1861-1865
by David E. Roth
from Zigzag
for 9th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Classical Rome
by John D. Clare, ed.
from Harcourt Children's Books
for 5th-10th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Cloud Over Hiroshima
by Burt Hirschfeld, jacket & maps by Barry Martin
from Julian Messner
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$18.75 (1 in stock)
Codfish Musket
by Agnes Hewes, illustrated by Armstrong Sperry
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
1937 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$45.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial American Home Life
by John F. Warner
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-10th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Colonial Wars Source Book
by Philip J. Haythornthwaite
from Cassell
for 8th-Adult
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Colosseum
by Peter Quennell
from Newsweek Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Comes the Comrade!
by Alexandra Orme, translated from the Polish by M.A. Michael and L. Meyer
from William Morrow & Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Cry from the Earth
by John Bierhorst
from Four Winds Press
for 6th-Adult
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Crying for a Vision
by Walter Wangerin Jr.
from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Diedrich Knickerbocker's A History of New York
by Washington Irving, illustrated by F.O.C. Darley, introduction by Andrew B. Myers
Facsimile, First Printing from Sleepy Hollow Press
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Doctor in Buckskin
by T. D. Allen
from Harper & Brothers
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.75 (1 in stock)
Early American Literature
from Perfection Learning
for 8th-12th grade
in American Literature Curriculum (Location: LITCUR-AM)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Early Days of a Cowboy on the Pecos
by James F. Hinkle
from Unknown Publisher
for 7th-12th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Edinburgh
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by William Wilson
from Robert Grant & Son Ltd.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Edwardian Lady
by Ina Taylor
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Elizabeth of York
by Nancy Lenz Harvey
from Macmillan
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Empires Lost and Won
by Albert Marrin
1st edition from Atheneum
for 5th-12th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
English Weapons & Warfare 449-1660
from Barnes & Noble
for 5th-Adult
in Military & Weapon History (Location: HISV-MILIT)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Escape from Corregidor
by Edward D. Whitcomb
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Eugenie Grandet
by Honore de Balzac, translated by Ellen Marriage, introduction by Richard Aldington, illustrations by Rene ben Sussan
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Everyday Life Through the Ages
by Robert Dolezal
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in Everyday Life in History (Location: HISV-EVERY)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Exile
by Pearl S. Buck
from The John Day Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers
by Alasdair Macleod
from DK Publishing
for 5th-12th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Fight for Freedom
by Benson Bobrick
1st edition from Atheneum
for 5th-10th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$24.99 $15.00 (1 in stock)
Fighting Angel
by Pearl S. Buck
from The John Day Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Fighting Indian Warriors
by E. A. Brininstool
from Stackpole Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Five Sons of King Pandu
by Elizabeth Seeger
from William R. Scott Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Flag Book of the United States
by Whitney Smith
Revised Edition from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in U.S. Monuments & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Forbidden Land
by Geoffrey T. Bull
from Moody Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.13 (1 in stock)
Forgotten Founding Father
Leaders in Action Series
by Stephen Mansfield
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-12th grade
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$16.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Forts of Canada
by Leslie F. Hannon
from McClelland & Stewart
for 6th-12th grade
in Canada (Location: HISMC-CAN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
From Flappers to Flivvers...
from Reminisce Books
for 9th-Adult
in Roaring Twenties (1919-1929) (Location: HISA-20s)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington's World (pictorial hardcover)
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$28.50 (1 in stock)
George Washington, Spymaster
by Thomas B. Allen
from National Geographic
for 7th-12th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington: Soldier and Man
by North Callahan
from William Morrow & Company
for 7th-10th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
George Whitefield: Wayfaring Witness
by Stuart C. Henry
from Abingdon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Gettysburg: Battle & Battlefield
by W. C. Storrick
from Barnes & Noble
for 9th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gifts of the Jews
by Thomas Cahill
from Nan A. Talese
for 9th-Adult
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Gilded Age: A History in Documents
Pages From History
by Janette Thomas Greenwood
from Oxford University
for 9th-12th grade
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Give Me Liberty
Leaders in Action Series
by David Vaughan
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$17.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Grand Canal of China
from South China Morning Post Ltd.
for 6th-Adult
in China (Location: HISMC-CHI)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Great Adventures That Changed Our World
from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in Modern History (Location: HISW-MOD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Great Lion of God
by Taylor Caldwell
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Gulliver's Travels
Windermere Readers #15
by Jonathan Swift, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.75 (1 in stock)
Half-Crown House
by Helen Ashton
Book Club Edition from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Harriet Beecher Stowe
by Suzanne M. Coil
from Franklin Watts
for 7th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Heritage of Freedom
by Frank Monaghan
from Princeton University Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hero Next Door
by Frank A. Burnham
from Aero Publishers
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.75 (1 in stock)
History of Ancient Israel
by Michael Grant
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
History of Human Society: Pioneer America
The History of Human Society
by John R. Alden
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Horses of Anger
by James Forman
2nd Printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
House Divided
by Ben Ames Williams, jacket & illustrations by Reginald Marsh
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
House of Earth
by Pearl S. Buck
from The John Day Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
How the Merrimac Won
by R.W. Daly
from Thomas Crowell
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.38 (1 in stock)
Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission Volume 2
by Howard Taylor
from OMF
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
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