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Vintage History & Biographies

There is a subtle difference between "history" and "current events." At the time of this writing, Russia has invaded Ukraine, and Israel is engaged in a conflict with Hamas. Our world has just resurfaced from the fear spread by COVID-19 and the reactions it spurred, and the United States government is trying to figure out how to combat (or not) a surge of illegal immigration on our Southern border. These are all "historical events" and much is being written about them even as I type. But while facts are facts, we currently don't have them all and lack perspective. 

Two common quotes immediately jump to mind.

The first: "hindsight is 20/20." The idea behind this is that we can see more clearly things that are in our past; as we unearth information and take the time to understand multiple points of view, histories will be written. Many of these will be excellent, though never completely without bias, because of the second saying: "history is written by the victors." The primary sources—and the propaganda—of today will influence the histories of tomorrow.

So vintage history books are a funny thing. Being closer to the original events, some authors had the opportunity to witness the events they write about, or meet their subjects. As such, many of these authors were writing about what, for them, were essentially current events, and thus the books have primary (or secondary) source value. But they are products of their time, and were not immune to propaganda or inaccuracies themselves: the worldviews and prejudices of the authors influenced their work. Others, writing with longer perspective, often had access to sources or witnesses who have since passed away. Either way, views on race, gender, colonization, climate change and many other topics were often vastly different than those of people today; some for the good, and some not so good.

Many of the books here were written in the 1940s-60s, when the USA was fresh from victory in WWII. You might say America was at the peak of her power and glory, though she was then competing for world dominance with the USSR. That isn't to say she was always at her best, but there was a huge drive to educate her youth about her past and her heroes. The Landmark Books, Signature Books, Julian Messner biographies, and many others brought excellent authors and their topics into view of children. Not all of the books are about America, but most of them are, and it's a fair criticism that the selection here is Ameri- and Eurocentric. Looking at the world with a broader lens is generally a blessing of newer publications.

As with anything, when using history books for the education of children, care has to be taken. Keep in mind that good history is question-driven, not philosophy-driven. It's honest about the past, and doesn't whitewash horrible events. It doesn't impose biases onto primary sources or promote a certain perspective by manipulating data; good history lets the historical facts speak for themselves. We won't say all of the books here are good; we WILL say they provide different viewpoints, both for texts from their own time and for those of today. But it is important to read a range of books, both older and newer, to truly understand a diversity of perspectives.

We're working to add more books to this list all the time, and we want to make them as accessible as possible, so we're linking to online versions whenever we can. Look for links to Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive, and other sources!

Introduction by Eli Evans
Formerly home educated and now father of five, Eli loves discovering amazing books, new and old, and is an artistic curator at heart. The owner and manager of Exodus since 1998, his focus is on offering thoughtful and well-written books that inspire the imagination and promote creativity and diligence while living for God. Read more of his reviews here.
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Admiral of the Ocean Sea
by Samuel E. Morison
from Atlantic Monthly Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
All Hands Aloft!
by Lou A. Schmitt
from Howell-North
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Children Through Their Books
by Sister Monica Kiefer
1970 printing from University of Pennsylvania Press
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
American Fishermen
by Albert Cook Church (photography), text by James B. Connolly
from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
American Sailing Coasters of the North Atlantic
by Paul C. Morris, foreword by Edouard Stackpole
1979 Reprint from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Apollo on the Moon
by Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr.
from Dial Press
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Art and Artists of Russia
by Richard Hare
from Methuen
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
World's Greatest Literature
by Benjamin Franklin
from Spencer Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin
by Carl Van Doren
from Library of America
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Clear for Action
by Foster Hailey and Milton Lancelot
Printing D from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Dynamite Johnny O'Brien
by Milton A. Dalby
from Lowman & Hanford Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
English Children's Costume
1965 Reprint from A & C Black Ltd.
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Experts' Book of Boating
by Ruth Brindze (editor), illustrated by Fred Wellbrock
from Prentice Hall
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Flying Squadrons
by S. Paul Johnston
1st edition from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Frederic Chopin
by Victor Seroff
from Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Full Fathom Five
by Frank H. Shaw
from Macmillan
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Great Waters
by Creston Donald Ketchum
from Hutchinson & Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Guns Off Cape Ann
by Kenneth Poolman
from Evans Brothers Limited
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
High Flew the Falcons
by Herbert Molloy Mason, Jr.
1st edition from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
History of Human Society: Pioneer America
The History of Human Society
by John R. Alden
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
History of Invention
by Egon Larsen
Revised from J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
History Sings
by Hazel Gertrude Kinscella
from University Publishing Company
American Music History for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Hostile Skies
by James J. Hudson
1st edition from Syracuse University Press
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
How the Merrimac Won
by R.W. Daly
from Thomas Crowell
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
In Quest of the Sun
The Mariners Library #30
by Alain Gerbault
from Rupert Hart-Davis
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Joshua Barney
by Ralph D. Paine
from Century Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Last Grain Race
by Eric Newby
1st Printing from Houghton Mifflin
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$32.00 (1 in stock)
Lexington Goes Down
by A. A. Hoehling
from Prentice Hall
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Log of "Bob" Bartlett
by Captain Robert A. Bartlett
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Lonely Sea and the Sky
by Francis Chichester
First American Edition from Coward McCann
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Long Ships: A Saga of the Viking Age
by Frans G. Bengtsson, translated from the Swedish by Michael Meyer
7th Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$60.00 (1 in stock)
Mariner of the North
by George Palmer Putnam
from Duell, Sloan and Pearce
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Mathew Brady
by James D. Horan
from Bonanza Books
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Maximum Effort
The 449th Bomb Group History #4
from 449th Bomb Group Assoc.
for Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Of Yachts and Men
by William Atkin, illustrations by Charles G. Davis, introduction by Charles F. Chapman
from Sheridan House
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Pacific Lumber Ships
by Gordon Newell and Joe Williamson
1st edition from Superior Publishing Company
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Paddle-Wheel Days in California
from Stanford University Press
for 8th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pathfinder of the Seas
by John W. Wayland
from Garrett & Massie
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Pictorial History of Outboard Motors
by W.J. Webb with Robert W. Carrick
from Renaissance Editions
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$48.00 (1 in stock)
Principles of Warship Construction and Damage Control
by G.C. Manning and T.L. Schumacher
4th edition from United States Naval Institute
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast
by R.C. Anderson
from Marine Research Society
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Scott's Voyage of the Discovery
by Captain Robert F. Scott
from John Murray
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Trip in Clipper Ship Days
by Mary Matthews Bray
from Gorham Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ships and Cargoes
by Joseph Leeming
1st edition from Doubleday, Page & Company
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ships Through the Ages
by Douglas Lobley
from Octopus Books Limited
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Sons of Sinbad
by Alan Villiers
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
South Sea Shilling
by Eric Swenson
First Edition from Viking Press
for 7th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Undersea Adventure
by Philippe Diole, translated from the French by Alan Ross
3rd Printing from Julian Messner
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Wagner and His Music-Dramas
by Robert Bagar
from Grosset & Dunlap
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
We, the Navigators
by David Lewis
from University Press of Hawaii
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
White Nile
by Alan Moorehead
Revised Edition from Harper & Row
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Winning the War with Ships
by Admiral Emory S. Land, introduction by Gen. Charles A. Lindbergh
1st edition from Robert M. McBride & Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$48.00 (1 in stock)
World of Bernini
1973 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Bruegel
Revised, 1975 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Cezanne
Revised, 1974 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Delacroix
by Tom Prideaux
Revised, 1975 printing from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Gainsborough
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Manet
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Rembrandt
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Titian
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Turner
Time-Life Library of Art
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Van Gogh
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Vermeer
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
World of Whistler
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Time-Life Library of Art (Location: VIN-ARTBIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Yankee Sails the Nile
by Irving and Electa Johnson
1st edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Yankee Skippers to the Rescue
by Felix Riesenberg, Jr.
1969 Reprint from Books for Libraries Press
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
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