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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294 Items found Print
Active Filters: 7th grade (Ages 12-13), Hardcover, Used Books & Materials
...and now Miguel
by Joseph Krumgold
from Thomas Crowell
for 5th-8th grade
1954 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln in Peace and War
by Earl Schenck Miers
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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Africa's Vanishing Wildlife
by Chris & Tilde Stuart
1st edition from Smithsonian Books
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Album of the Civil War
by William Loren Katz
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All Aboard for Freedom
by Marie McSwigan, illustrated by E. Harper Johnson, with an introduction by Jan Papanek
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
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$22.50 (1 in stock)
America in the 1930s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
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America in the 1970s
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America in the 1990s
by George Ochoa
from Facts On File
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
from William Morrow & Company
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$33.75 (1 in stock)
America's Fascinating Indian Heritage
by James A. Maxwell
from Reader's Digest
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
America's God and Country
by William J. Federer
8th edition from Fame Publishing
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Barns and Covered Bridges
by Eric Sloane
1st edition from Wilfred Funk, Inc.
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 1
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 10
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 12
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 5
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 6
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 8
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American Heritage Book of the Presidents and Famous Americans Volume 9
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American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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American Indian Tales and Legends
by Vladimir Hulpach, illustrated by Miloslav Troup
from Paul Hamlyn
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American Yesterday
by Eric Sloane
15th Printing from Funk & Wagnalls
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Americans Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Baity, illustrated by C.B. Falls
from Viking Press
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1952 Newbery Honor Book
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$10.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Rome
Discoveries Series
by Dr. Paul C. Roberts
from Barnes & Noble
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Apache Land
by Ross Santee
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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Australia
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Australia: Beyond the Black Stump
by Gary Lewis
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B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
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Battles of the Ancient World: 1285 BC ~ AD 451
by Kelly Devries, et. al
from Metro Books
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Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
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Beggar's King
by Howard C. Emmons
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Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
1st edition
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Black Heroes of the American Revolution
by Burke Davis
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Black Man in America
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Black Symbol
by Annabel & Edgar Johnson
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Boston
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman
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Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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By the Bridge of a Thousand Ages
by Myrth Bartlett, illustrations by Alice Marie Bartlett and Arthur D. Roberts
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Canada: Our History
by Rick Archbold
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Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
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Captive
by Scott O'Dell
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Hans Christian Anderson Award
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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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Caught
Missing #05
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
from Simon and Schuster
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Celtic Fairy Tales
by Neil Philip, illustrated by Isabelle Brent
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Character for Life
by Don Hawkinson
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Charles A. Lindbergh
by James Cross Giblin
from Clarion Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
1998 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Child Star
by Lydia Weaver
from Viking Press
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Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
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Children's Encyclopedia of American History
by David C. King
from DK Publishing
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Civil War Battles
by Curt Johnson
1st edition from Crescent Books
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Classical Rome
by John D. Clare, ed.
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Colonial American Home Life
by John F. Warner
from Franklin Watts
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Colonial Governor
by J.G.E. Hopkins, illustrated by William Wilson
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Colosseum
by Peter Quennell
from Newsweek Books
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Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun
by Rhoda Blumberg
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
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Cry from the Earth
by John Bierhorst
from Four Winds Press
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Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient America
by Marion Wood
1st edition from Facts On File
Ancient History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Maya & Aztec Civilizations
by Marion Wood
3rd edition from Facts On File
Ancient History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
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Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Mesopotamia
by Erica C. D. Hunter
3rd edition from Facts On File
World History Reference/Atlas for 4th-8th grade
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Constance Rourke, illustrated by Walter Seaton
from Grosset & Dunlap
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1935 Newbery Honor Book
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Dickens: His Work and His World
by Michael Rosen
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Dime a Dozen
by Nikki Grimes, Illustrated by Angelo
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DK Eyewitness: Explorer
by Rupert Matthews
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Explorer
DK Eyewitness Series
by Rupert Matthews
1st edition from DK Publishing
HIstory Reference for 4th-8th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Dragon, Hound of Honor
by Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Walton Hamilton
1st edition from HarperCollins
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Early Days of a Cowboy on the Pecos
by James F. Hinkle
from Unknown Publisher
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Eating the Plates
by Lucille Recht Penner
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Empires Lost and Won
by Albert Marrin
1st edition from Atheneum
for 5th-12th grade
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
English Weapons & Warfare 449-1660
from Barnes & Noble
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Escape from Corregidor
by Edward D. Whitcomb
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Escape or Die
by Ina R. Friedman
from Addison Wesley
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
from Henry Holt and Company
for 4th-7th grade
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers
by Alasdair Macleod
from DK Publishing
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers & Discoverers - 4 Volume Set
from UXL Publishing
biographical encyclopedia for 5th-8th grade
in World History Reference (Location: HISW-REF)
$30.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers, Missionaries, and Trappers
by Kieran Doherty
from Oliver-Nelson Books
for 7th-9th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Facing West
by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Fall of the Roman Empire
Opposing Viewpoints Digests
by Don Nardo
from Greenhaven Press
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Far Frontier
by William O. Steele; illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Harcourt
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Fields of Fury
by James M. McPherson
from Atheneum
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Fifth Chinese Daughter
by Jade Snow Wong; illustrated by Kathryn Uhl
from Harper & Brothers
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$4.50 (2 in stock)
Fight for Freedom
by Benson Bobrick
1st edition from Atheneum
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$24.99 $15.00 (1 in stock)
First Civilizations
History of Everyday Things
by Giovanni Caselli
from Peter Bedrick Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
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First Four Years (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from Harper & Row
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fishermen
by Daniel Jacobson, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
from Franklin Watts
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Five Sons of King Pandu
by Elizabeth Seeger
from William R. Scott Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
For You They Signed
by Marilyn Boyer
from Master Books
for 3rd-8th grade
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$27.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
For You They Signed (old)
by Marilyn Boyer
from Learning Parent
for 3rd-8th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$12.00 (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)
Fortune's Bones
by Marilyn Nelson, notes and annotations by Pamela Espeland
from Front Street
for 4th-8th grade
2005 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
From Ballots to Breadlines
Young Oxford History of Women in the United States Volume 8
by Sarah Jane Deutsch
from Oxford University
for 6th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
From Colonies to Country with George Washington - Book Only
My American Journey
by Deborah Hedstrom
from Multnomah Books
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
From Log Cabin to White House with Abraham Lincoln - Set
from Multnomah Books
for 4th-7th grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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