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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20th Century Wars
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Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
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Aeneid
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Age of Religious Wars
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Alexander Hamilton
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America's Christian History
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America's Longest War
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American Civil War
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American Covenant
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American Revolutionaries
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American Waterways: Canal Days
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Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry
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Anne Bradstreet
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Atlas of the North American Indian
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Beyond the Sacred Page
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Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge
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Black Odyssey
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Born to Run
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Brethren
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Bridge to the Sun
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Bruchko
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Bruchko and the Motilone Miracle
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Biography for 10th-Adult
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Captain Dreyfus
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Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament
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Chronological and Background Charts of the Old Testament
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Civil War Songbook
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Civil War: A History
by Harry Hansen, Introduction by Richard S. Wheeler, Foreword by Gary Gallagher
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Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance
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Collector, The
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Colonial Period: 1607-1750
American History by Era Volume 2
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Colonial Triangular Trade: An Economy Based on Human Misery
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Concise History of Ireland
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Cry, the Beloved Country
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Czech Reader
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Daily Life in Johnson's London
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Daughter's Devotion
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Devil in Massachusetts
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Dictionary of the Roman Empire
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Eighteenth Century Europe
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Elizabeth I
Jackdaw No. 53
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Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men
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Enchantress of Florence
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English Constitution
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Faith of Our Fathers: Scenes from American Church History
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Faust: A Tragedy
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Flames of Rome
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Forever Free
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Fortune of War
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Free Indeed
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From Sea to Shining Sea
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Gallic War
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Genealogy of the Kings of France and Their Wives
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Gentlewoman's Choice
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George MacDonald
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Girl in the Picture
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Glimpses of Truth
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Grand Canyon and the Southwest
by Ansel Adams
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Great Battles of the Civil War
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Great Bridge
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Guide to America's Greatest Historic Places
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Gulf War 1991
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Heavenly Man
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Heyday
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History of Britain 2
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Hitch
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In the Land of the Head-Hunters
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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
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Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
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Jamestown and the Founding of the Nation
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Jeanne Guyon
by Jeanne Guyon
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Jonathan and Sarah
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Journal of a Trapper
by Osborne Russell, edited by Aubrey L. Haines
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Katherine Parr
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Kitchen Boy
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Kite Runner
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Labor's Untold Story
by Herbert M. Morais, Richard O. Boyer
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Lee's New School History of the United States
by Susan Lee
1995 reprint from Grapevine Publications
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Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
1st edition from Touchstone
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Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
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Life and Diary of David Brainerd
by David Brainerd
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Life in Medieval Times
by Marjorie Rowling
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Lives of the Presidents
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Long Valley
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Marriage to a Difficult Man
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Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
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Mayflower
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Method of Grace
by George Whitefield
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Midshipman Bolitho
by Alexander Kent
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Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
by LeRoy R. Hafen & Harvey L. Carter
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Napoleon's Russian Campaign
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Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee
by David Crockett
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
by Frederick Douglass, edited and introduction by David W. Blight
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New York to Nome
by Rick Steber, Photography by Sheldon Taylor
2007 Revised from Bonanza Publishing
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Night
by Elie Wiesel
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North American Indian Burial Customs
by Dr. H. C. Yarrow
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On the Edge
by David D. Lee, David Horowitz, Peter N. Carroll
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