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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128 Items found Print
Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Library Binding, Used Books & Materials
Akavak
by James Houston
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
American Revolution
Revolution!
by R. G. Grant
from Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishing
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Among the Plains Indians
from Lerner Publishing Group
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Ancient Romans
People of the Ancient World
by Allison Lassieur
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Art of the Woodland Indians
by Shirley Glubok
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Asian Crafts
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Assyrians
by Elaine Landau
from Millbrook Press
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of Valcour Bay
Triangle Histories: The Revolutionary War
by Scott Ingram
from Blackbirch Press
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Betsy Ross
Leaders of the American Revolution
by Vicki Cox
from Chelsea House Publishing
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Big Wave
by Pearl S. Buck
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Biography of Tea
by Carrie Gleason
from Crabtree Publishing
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Black Courage
by A. E. Schraff
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Black Hawk, Sac Rebel
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Bound for America
Great Journeys
by Milton Meltzer
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Chokra and Tags
by John Michael
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Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
by Jim Gallagher
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City! San Francisco
by George Ancona, Shirley Climo
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Civil War
American War Series
by Zachary Kent
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Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse
Historical American Biographies
by Nancy Whitelaw
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Colonial Places
by Sarah Howarth
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Confederate Girl: The Diary of Carrie Berry, 1864
by Carrie Berry; edited by Christy Steele and Anne Todd
from Capstone Press
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Constitution
American Symbols and their Meanings
by Hal Marcovitz
from Mason Crest Publishers
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Coronado and His Captains
by Camilla Campbell, illustrated by Harve Stein
from Follett Publishing Co.
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Creating the Constitution: 1787
Drama of American History
by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier
from Benchmark Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cultural History of Women in America: Finding an Identity
A Cultural History of Women in America: Volume 1
by Alex Woolf
from Chelsea House Publishing
Women's History for 3rd-8th grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Dear Levi
by Elvira Woodruff
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Eliza Pinckney
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee
from Children's Press
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Fall of Constantinople
by Ruth Tenzer Feldman
from Twenty-first Century Books
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan
by Milton Meltzer
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Ferdinand Magellan and the First Voyage Around the World
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
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First Book of Ancient Rome
by Charles Alexander Robinson, Jr., Revised by Lorna Greenberg
Revised Edition from Franklin Watts
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
First Families: The Jacksons
by Cass R. Sandak
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First Families: The Lincolns
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First Families: The Washingtons
by Cass R. Sandak
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For the Temple
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
Latinos in American History
by Jim Whiting
from Mitchell Lane Publishers
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George Washington: Man and Monument
by Frank Freidel and Lonnelle Aikman
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Geronimo: Apache Freedom Fighter
Native American Biographies
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Glorious Days, Dreadful Days
Stories of America
by Philippa Kirby
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Golden Coyote
by Eileen Thompson, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
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Good Women of a Well-Blessed Land
by Brandon Marie Miller
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Grand Papa and Ellen Aroon
by F. N. Monjo, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
1st edition from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
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$3.75 (1 in stock)
Hans Brinker
Windermere Readers #7
by Mary Mapes Dodge, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 Edition, 2nd printing from Rand McNally
for 4th-9th grade
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$7.50 (2 in stock)
Harriet Tubman
Triangle Histories: The Civil War
by Lisa Halvorsen
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Henry Hudson
Library of Explorers and Exploration
by Josepha Sherman
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History Beneath Your Feet: Ancient Rome
by Sean Sheehan
from Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishing
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Houses of Parliament
by Nigel Smith
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How Men Discovered the World
by Hans R. Hecke, illustrated by Nikolaus Plump, freely translated by Moya Gillespie
from Lerner Publishing Group
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Hunters Blaze the Trails
by Edith S. McCall
New 1980 Edition from Children's Press
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
In Their Own Words: World War I
by Nicholas Saunders
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
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Incas
by Rosemary Rees
from Heinemann Educational Books
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Indian Costumes
Gray-Wolf's Indian Culture series
by Robert Hofsinde
from William Morrow & Company
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$3.75 (1 in stock)
Indian Handcrafts
by C. Keith Wilbur
2nd edition from The Globe Pequot Press
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Indians at Home
Gray-Wolf's Indian Culture series
by Robert Hofsinde
from William Morrow & Company
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$5.25 (1 in stock)
Island Far From Home
by John Donahue
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
It's My State! Oregon
It's My State!
by Joyce Hart and Jacqueline Laks Gorman
from Marshall Cavendish Education
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Italian Children
by Mabel O'Donnell
from Row, Peterson and Company
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James Longstreet
Triangle Histories: The Civil War
by Melanie LeTourneau
from Blackbirch Press
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Jefferson Davis
Triangle Histories: The Civil War
by W. Scott Ingram
from Blackbirch Press
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John Charles Frémont
by Charles W. Maynard
1st edition from PowerKids Press
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John Hancock: A Signature Life
by Philip Koslow
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Journal of One Davey Wyatt
by Donald Honig, illustrated by Sam Fink
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Juan Ponce de Leon and the Search for the Fountain of Youth
by Daniel E. Harmon
from Chelsea House Publishing
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Leprechaun Tales
by Kathleen Green; illustrated by Victoria De Larrea
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
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Let's Discover Canada: Prince Edward Island
by Suzanne LeVert
from Chelsea House Publishing
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Lewis and Clark Expedition
We the People
by Patricia Ryon Quiri
from Compass Point Books
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Life and Times of Buddha
by Mona Gedney
from Mitchell Lane Publishers
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Life During the Great Civilizations: The Inca
by Charles & Linda George
from Blackbirch Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Life During the Russian Revolution
by Victoria Sherrow
from Lucent Press
for 6th-12th grade
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Lighthouses of America
by Mina Lewiton, Illustrated by Howard Simon
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.38 (1 in stock)
Little House on the Prairie (pictorial hardcover)
Little House Series #2
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCrest
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.75 (1 in stock)
Magellan
by Michael Burgan
from Compass Point Books
for 5th-12th grade
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Mao Zedong's China
by Kathlyn Gay
from Lerner Publishing Group
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Master George's People
by Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mongols
Journey Into Civilization
by Robert Nicholson
from Chelsea House Publishing
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Netherlands
by Ronald Seth
from Chelsea House Publishing
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in Europe (Location: HISMC-EUR)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Paradox of Jamestown (1585-1700)
The Drama of American History
by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier
from Benchmark Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Persian Empire
Cultures of the Past
by Karen Zeinert
from Benchmark Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Peter Jumping Horse at the Stampede
by Gordon Langley Hall, illustrated by Jennifer Kent
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pioneer Traders
by Edith S. McCall
from Children's Press
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Pony Express
by Anita Louise McCormick
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Potawatomi
by James A. Clifton
from Chelsea House Publishing
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President's Cabinet and How it Grew
by Nancy Winslow Parker
from Parents Magazine Press
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Printers
Colonial American Craftsmen
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Franklin Watts
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in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.75 (1 in stock)
Quilt-Block History of Pioneer Days
by Mary Cobb, Illustrated by Jan Davey Ellis
from Millbrook Press
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
R My Name is Rachel
by Patricia Reilly Giff
from Random House
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in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Red Sea
by Leighton Taylor, photography by Norbert Wu
from Blackbirch Press
for 3rd-6th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Risking it All
Moments in American History
by Anne Souby
from Steck-Vaughn Company
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in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Roman Record
by Paul Dowswell
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
San Domingo
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Robert Lougheed
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Science in Colonial America
by Brendan January
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
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$7.00 (2 in stock)
Seeds of a Nation - Massachusetts
by Don Nardo
from KidHaven Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention
Events That Shaped America
by Dale Anderson, Sabrina Crewe
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sidney Poitier: Actor
by Carol Bergman
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sir Francis Drake
Library of Explorers and Exploration
by Joy Paige
1st edition from Rosen Central
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sounder
by William H. Armstrong
from Harper & Row
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1970 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
South Town
by Lorenz Graham
from Follett Publishing Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.75 (1 in stock)
Southern and Eastern Asia
by Martyn Bramwell
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 4th-7th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Spacious Dreams
The Asian American Experience
by Ronald Takaki
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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