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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1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace
from National Geographic
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1812: The War and the World
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33 Roads to the White House
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
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Across the Wide & Lonesome Prairie
Dear America
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Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
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Addy Learns a Lesson
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Adventure to Home
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1954 edition from Rand McNally
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Windermere Series 4
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African Critters
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African Traveler
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After the Train
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Alamo All Stars
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All About Aviation
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All Thirteen
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2021 Newbery Honor Book, 2021 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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$24.99
America in the Time of George Washington
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
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America is Born
A History for Peter #1
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America Moves Forward
A History for Peter #3
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America's Ethan Allen
by Stewart H. Holbrook; illustrated by Lynd Ward
9th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
America's Lost Dream
by Tom Dooley
from Master Books
American History for 4th-6th grade
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America's Robert E. Lee
by Henry Steele Commager, illustrated by Lynd Ward
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American Adventures
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American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
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American Indian Story
by May McNeer, illustrated by Lynd Ward
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American Indian Tales and Legends
by Vladimir Hulpach, illustrated by Miloslav Troup
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American Moments
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American Plague
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2004 Newbery Honor Book, 2004 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, NCTE Orbi Pictus Award
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$21.99
American Tall Tales
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Fairy Tales & Fables for 4th-8th grade
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Amerigo Vespucci
by Nina Brown Baker
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Amy Carmichael: Rescuing the Children
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Anastasia
Royal Diaries
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Ancient Rome
Discoveries Series
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The Ancient World
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Ann And Liv Cross Antarctica
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Anno's China
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Anno's Spain
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Answering the Cry for Freedom
by Gretchen Woelfle, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
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Apache Indians
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Appomattox
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Arabian Nights
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Arabs in the Golden Age
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Architects
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Ark, The
by Margot Benary-Isbert
2021 Revision from Purple House Press
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$23.00
Art and Civilization: Ancient Rome
Art and Civilization
by Giovanni Di Pasquale & Matilde Bardi
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Art of the Southeastern Indians
by Shirley Glubok
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Ashanti of Ghana
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of Africa
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Edith G. Singer
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Astrid the Unstoppable
by Maria Parr, translated from the Norwegian by Guy Puzey
from Candlewick Press
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Australia: Beyond the Black Stump
by Gary Lewis
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Aztec
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Kisa Sasaki
from William Morrow & Company
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Aztecs & Incas
Sightseers Essential Travel Guides to the Past
by Camilla Reid
Har/Map from Kingfisher
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Balboa:
by Jeannette Mirsky
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Bambi
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by Felix Salten, illustrated by Girard Goodenow
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Animal Stories: Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
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Bambi
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Animal Stories: Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
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Bambi's Children
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Barbarian Invasions of Europe
by Patrick Perin & Pierre Forni, assisted by Laure-Charlotte Feffer
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Battle for Long Island and New York
by Susan Lee
from Children's Press
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Battle for Quebec
North Star Books #38
by F. Van Wyck Mason, illustrated by Victor Mays
from Houghton Mifflin
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Battle of the Bulge
by Stephen W. Sears
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Battle of Yorktown
by Thomas J. Fleming
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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Bay of the North
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
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Beautiful Blue Jay and Other Tales of India
by John W. Spellman, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
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Before Columbus
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Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
by Patricia Beatty
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Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 1st-6th grade
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Betsy Ross: Girl of Old Philadelphia
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ann Weil, illustrated by Al Fiorentino
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Bhimsa, the Dancing Bear
by Christine Weston, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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1946 Newbery Honor Book
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Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
1st edition
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Big Book of Cowboys
by Holling Clancy Holling
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers
by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula
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$9.00 (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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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Birthdays of Freedom Book One
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
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Birthdays of Freedom Book Two
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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1953 Newbery Honor Book
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Black Elk's Vision
by S. D. Nelson
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Blizzard!
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Press
for 4th-6th grade
2001 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Blockade Runners and Ironclads
by Wallace B. Black
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-5th grade
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Blueberry Corners
by Lois Lenski
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
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Book of Famous Explorers
Young Folks Library
by Edwin Erle Sparks, editor
from Auxiliary Educational League
for 3rd-9th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Book of Indians
by Holling C. Holling
1st edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
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Book of Indians
by Holling C. Holling
from Platt and Munk Publishers
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Book of the American Indians
Brown Paper School USKids History
by Marlene Smith-Baranzini & Howard Egger-Bovet
from Little, Brown & Company
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Booker T. Washington
A Discovery Book
by Lillie G. Patterson
from Garrard Publishing Company
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Boston
from Crescent Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
from Candlewick Press
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2021 Newbery Honor Book
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$17.99
Boys' Book of the West
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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Brady
by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Coward McCann
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Brer Rabbit and His Tricks
by Ennis Rees; illustrated by Edward Gorey
from Young Scott Books
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Bright Star
by Gary Crew
from Kane Miller
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Bringing Back the Wolves
by Jude Isabella; illustrated by Kim Smith
from Kids Can Press
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Brooklyn Bridge
by Lynn Curlee
from Atheneum
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Brothers in Hope
by Mary Williams, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-4th grade
2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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