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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14 Cows for America
by Carmen Agra Deedy, in collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah
Reprint from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
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7 Continents: Australia & Oceania
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
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7 Continents: South America
by Rachel Lynette
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Aaron and the Green Mountain Boys
by Patricia Lee Gauch, illustrated by Margot Tomes
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Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington
by Cheryl Harness
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Abigail Adams
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Abraham Lincoln
Heroes of History
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Abraham Lincoln
by Clara Ingram Judson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
1951 Newbery Honor Book
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Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
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1940 Caldecott Medal winner
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Adara
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Addy Learns a Lesson
by Connie Porter
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Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Lewis & Clark
by Jamie Aramini
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Adventures of Munford: The American Revolution
by Jamie Aramini
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by Jamie Aramini
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Adventures of the American Revolution
by Susan Olasky
from P&R Publishing
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Africa For Kids
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Air Raid - Pearl Harbor!
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Alexander Graham Bell
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Alia's Mission
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from Dragonfly Books
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Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad
On My Own History
by Marlene Targ Brill
from First Avenue Editions
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Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
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Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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Amelia to Zora
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America First updated
by Lawton B. Evans, Updated & Revised by Rachel Lebowitz
from Charlotte Mason Plenary LLC
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America from the Beginning - Student Manual
by Joshua Franklin, Debbie Lawrence
from Answers in Genesis
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America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
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America's Paul Revere
by Esther Forbes
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America's War Heroes
by Marilyn Boyer
from Master Books
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$10.39
American History in Verse
by Burton Stevenson
from Bob Jones University Press
Poetry for 3rd-Adult
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$11.00
American Revolution
America at War Series
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from Grolier Publishing
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American Twins of the Revolution
by Lucy Fitch Perkins
from Salem Ridge Press
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Ancient Civilizations: China
Ancient Civilizations
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Ancient Egypt: An Interactive History Adventure
You Choose: Historical Eras
by Heather Adamson
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Ancient Maya
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Ancient Roman Art
by Susie Hodge
2nd edition from Heinemann Educational Books
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Ancient Rome Activity Book
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Andie's Moon
Historical House: 1969
by Linda Newbery
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Andrew Jackson
Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents
by Mike Venezia
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Angel Knew Papa and the Dog
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Anna and the King (adapted)
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Anna's Fight for Hope
Sisters in Time
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Anne Frank's Story
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Anne of Avonlea
Anne #2
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Anno's Italy PB
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Arabs in the Golden Age
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Arctic Explorer
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Armando and the Blue Tarp School
by Edith Hope Fine, Judith Pinkerton Josephson
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Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
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Ashanti to Zulu
by Margaret Musgrove, Leo & Diane Dillon
from Puffin Books
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1977 Caldecott Medal winner
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$8.99
Ashes
Seeds of America #3
by Laurie Halse Anderson
from Atheneum
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Astrid the Unstoppable
by Maria Parr, translated from the Norwegian by Guy Puzey
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Atlas of North American Exploration
by Glyndwr Williams, William H. Goetzmann
Oklahoma Paperbacks Ed from University of Oklahoma Press
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Attack in the Rye Grass
Trailblazer Series
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
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Attack in the Rye Grass
Trailblazer Series
by Dave and Neta Jackson
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Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky
by Faith Ringgold
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Australia and Oceania
True Books
by Mel Friedman
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Aztecs
Journey Into Civilization
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Bard of Avon
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
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Baseball Saved Us
by Ken Mochizuki
from Lee & Low Books
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Bat 6
by Virginia Euwer Wolff
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
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Battle in the Arctic Seas
Sterling Point Books
by Theodore Taylor
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Historical Non-fiction for 3rd-7th
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Stories From History
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Battle of Seattle
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Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum
by Ashley Bryan
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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Beethoven Lives Upstairs
by Barbara Nichol
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Behind the Blue and Gray
by Delia Ray
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Benjamin Franklin
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
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Benjamin Franklin
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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Benjamin Franklin, American Genius
by Brandon Marie Miller
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Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
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Bentwood Box
by Nan McNutt
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Best Little Stories from World War II
by C. Brian Kelly
1996 Printing from Montpelier Publishing
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Betsy and the Great World
by Maud Hart Lovelace
from HarperTrophy
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Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
from Hampton-Brown
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
from Hyperion/Madison Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
National Book Award Finalist
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Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
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Bite of the Gold Bug
by Barthe DeClements
from Puffin Books
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Black Island
Adventures of Tintin
by Herge
from Little, Brown & Company
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$14.99
Blackthorn Winter
Monroe Family Chronicles #1
by Doug Wilson
from Veritas Press
Nautical fiction for 4th-6th grade
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Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
by Elisa Carbone
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$8.99
Blue Birds
by Caroline Starr Rose
Dgs from Puffin Books
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$10.99
Blue Lotus
Adventures of Tintin
by Herge
from Little, Brown & Company
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Bobby’s Friends
by Phia van den Berg
from Inheritance Publications
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in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.95
Boris
by Jaap Ter Haar
from Inheritance Publications
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$11.95
Born in the Year of Courage
by Emily Crofford
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
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Boston Jane
by Jennifer L. Holm
from Scholastic Reference
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Boston Tea Party
by James E. Knight
Other Printing from Troll Associates
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Boston Tea Party
from Troll Communications
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Corona Publishing Co.
Historical fiction for 4th-9th grade
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Veritas Press
Historical fiction for 4th-9th grade
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$19.00
Boy on the Wooden Box
by Leon Leyson
Reprint from Atheneum
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Christopher Award
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
Boys and Girls of Colonial Days
by Carolyn Bailey
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
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$9.50 $6.50 (1 in stock)
Brady
by Jean Fritz
from Puffin Books
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$7.99
Brave Emily
American Girls Molly companion book
by Valerie Tripp, Illustrated by Nick Backes
from American Girl
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in American Girl (Location: SER-AMGIRL)
Breaking Stalin's Nose
by Eugene Yelchin
from Square Fish Publishing
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2012 Newbery Honor Book
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Brendan the Navigator
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
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