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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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
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America's War Heroes
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American History in Verse
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Avion My Uncle Flew
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Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum
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Benjamin Franklin
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Between the Forest and the Hills
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Black Heroes of the American Revolution
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Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
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Blue Birds
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Bold Journey
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Book of the Ancient Romans
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Book of the Ancient Romans - Teacher Guide
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Calico Captive
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Canada and the Canadian Provinces Map Coloring Book
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
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Carver and the Queen
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Children of the River
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City
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Civil War for Kids
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Colonist of Southwest Africa
The Louis Wessels Commando #5
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Color the Pacific Northwest
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
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Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun
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Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm
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Coolies
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Crispin: The End of Time
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Cuban Missile Crisis
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Curious World of Calpurnia Tate
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Czar, The
by Deborah Alcock
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Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
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Daniel Boone
Heroes of History
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Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural
by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
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1993 Newbery Honor Book
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Daughter of Time
by Josephine Tey
1st edition from Touchstone
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David Livingstone
by C. Silvester Horne
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by David Crockett
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Davy Crockett
Heroes of History
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Day of Pleasure
by Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Day the World Stopped Turning
by Michael Morpurgo
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Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer
by Geoff Benge, Janet Benge
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Don't You Know There's a War On?
by Avi
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Douglas MacArthur
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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Draw 50 Boats, Ships, Trucks, and Trains
by Lee Ames
from Watson-Guptill Publications
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Duncan's War
Crown & Covenant Series #1
by Douglas Bond
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Dutch Color
by Doug Jones
from Canon Press
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Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff
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Early Thunder
by Jean Fritz
from Puffin Books
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$6.99
Echoes of the White Giraffe
by Sook Nyul Choi
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Elephant in the Garden
by Michael Morpurgo
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$8.99
Elephant Run
by Roland Smith
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$6.99
Elizabeth I
by Jacob Abbott, updated for the present day reader by Knox Merkle
from Canon Press
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$12.00
Enemy Brothers
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Constance Savery
from Bethlehem Books
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Every Falling Star
by Sungju Lee and Susan McClelland
from Amulet Books
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Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
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2010 Newbery Honor
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$8.99
Exiled to the Red River
Trailblazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
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$8.99
Faith Unfurled
from History Compass
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Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Fate of the Yellow Woodbee
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Father's Promise
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Fear in the Forest
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Feathers
by Jacqueline Woodson
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2008 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.99
Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
from Simon and Schuster
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Fiddler's Green
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$16.99
Fiddler's Gun
by A. S. Peterson
1st edition from Rabbit Room Press
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First Four Years
Little House Series #9
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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$8.99
Flight into Spring
by Bianca Bradbury
from Bethlehem Books
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$8.50
Flight of the Fugitives
Trailblazer Books
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$8.99
For the Heart of Holland
Struggle for Freedom Series #4
by Piet Prins
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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$12.95
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