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| Landmark Books
by Random House |
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Overall, we tend to shy away from history textbooks--not because they're bad, just because they're usually not as interesting as regular books. So we have been fairly dependent on the library for our history curriculum. I read a couple of Landmarks when I was a child of about 11, but only remembered the title--not that they were Landmarks. I only recently realized that the books I read as a child were Landmarks. I rediscovered Landmarks at a flea market around 1995. As I perused my "find" (Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo), I saw that there was a whole list of similar books listed in the back of the book. And a few weeks later, I realized that the two books languishing on my shelves (U.S. Frogmen of World War II and Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt) were also Landmarks. Now, I couldn't figure out how to get any more of these books. I looked around the used bookstores here halfheartedly and found just a couple. And when homeschool moms started selling books online, I was able to pick up a couple more--which made me rather happy.
The content of the books that we've read has so far been of superior quality. I'll tell you the ones we've read so that you can know which books I'm basing my opinion on. Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, William the Conqueror, Cleopatra of Egypt. My son read The French Foreign Legion and Custer's Last Stand. I've studied a bit about William the Conqueror and the book was well done, covering all the important aspects of his life, in my opinion. We read the Pocahontas Landmark in conjunction with watching Disney's version of the Pocahontas story and compared the book and movie. That was a fun exercise. And the Cleopatra book was very interesting considering that we didn't know very much about her and Caesar. We read Cleopatra when we studied Rome.
Here's some information about a few of the books to help you see that Landmarks are well researched. Some versions of The Story of the U.S. Marines contain photos from the U.S. Marines. The author of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had personal friends that were members of the Mounties and also researched officially supplied sources in the writing of the book. When writing Cleopatra, Leonora Hornblow consulted sources such as these, Emil Ludwig's work on Cleopatra, Plutarch's Lives, The Ides of March by Thornton Wilder, the Encyclopedia Britannica, and Von Wertheimer's book on Cleopatra. The Story of Atomic Energy was written by Laura Fermi. It says on the dustjacket, "Laura Fermi's association with the world of science began with her marriage to the late renowned physicist, Enrico Fermi. From that time on she lived among the physicists most closely involved with the development of atomic science, and became familiar with the exciting world of neutrons and protons, cyclotrons, and reactors." Marian T. Place, the author of The Copper Kings of Montana, lists a very extensive bibliography, as well as being a Montana resident for over 25 years and marrying a Montanan of pioneer stock. And that's just a few of the Landmarks; the rest are probably just as well researched.
Here's what some reviewers say of Landmarks (taken from a dustjacket of an out of print edition):
"They are ideal teaching aids since they present authentic information on American history in such vivid and realistic manner that boys and girls read the books voluntarily."
"They not only hold the interest of good readers but lure the
reluctant ones."
"This series is superlatively well done and is a major contribution
to the information and inspiration of young Americans today."
Now, we've got to remember after reading these glowing reviews,
that today's kids are different from the kids of the 1950's and 60's.
While my kids overall have positive feeling about Landmarks, they don't
feel as the reviewers above feel. I don't know about your children,
but please don't expect miracles based upon the above reviews. The
reviews are added to let you know that some people thought that these books
were the cat's pajamas back in the 50's. I do, however, heartily
agree with the following reviews.
"The outstanding children's books of this half century.... without parallel in the field of children's literature."
"Any pre-adolescent who has not feasted on them has been cheated."
The back of one of the dustjackets says, "EACH Landmark
BOOK brings to life a great event or famous person. Each is designed
to be rich, rewarding reading, capable of stirring the reader's heart as
well as his mind. Each is intended to inspire not only a love for
good books but also an understanding and appreciation of the important
events and great figures of world history." And I've heard it said
that if a student were to read all of these books through their years at
school that they would have a better history education than 95% of all
high school seniors. I'd say that could be true. A history
program that uses these books as a foundation will be more in depth than
what I remember getting in school. These books are well researched,
and I'm quite glad that we are able to use some of them in our homeschool.
I wish there were more books like them on the market today. I think
the the Dear
America and My Name Is America Series are pretty good, but
they are historical fiction as opposed to Landmarks which are non-fiction.
Possibilities for homeschool use:
1. Read these aloud to your students--correlating the book to your student's textbook topic.
2. Collect 18 Landmarks and have your student read them throughout the year (one every two weeks). For each book, your student could complete one small project. Make a timeline of events in the book. Write a new ending based on the character making a different decision than what they actually made. Keep a list of all new words found in one of the books and then the student could look them up in a dictionary. Draw a map and outline the paths that the main character took. Memorize a speech made by the main character. Watch a movie depicting the events in the book and discuss the differences and similarities and which (book or movie) the student liked better. Recreate the foods that the characters might have eaten. Be creative and have fun.
3. Just read the books aloud to your children for fun and enjoyment, with learning as a by-product of time spent together.
So, how can you get a hold of some of these books for your homeschool? Well, many of them are available. First, check your library. It's always handy to be able to try before you buy, however, many of these books have already been withdrawn from many libraries. Random House is still publishing small number of them in paperback. They are marked below with the word "paperback." They can be bought from Amazon (some from Powell's) by clicking on the link. All of the rest of the Landmarks that you might want will have to be bought from used booksellers like Powell's. There's a couple of links below that will link you to the lists of used Landmarks available from Powell's. Powell's is a used and new bookstore, and their inventory changes daily--especially their used book inventory. So sometimes they will have the Landmark you're looking for, but it might be gone tomorrow. Today they may not have the book you're looking for, but possibly they will have it tomorrow! Or they might not have it for months. (See "ordering comments" in the side panel for the URL for other sources.) One very nice thing, though, is that it seems that Powell's prices are reasonable compared to other used book dealers. It appears that most Landmarks are selling for $6 - $12 at Powell's. And besides pricing their used books fairly, I've found them to be very friendly, too.
There are two series: "Landmarks" and "World Landmarks." Landmarks cover United States history, while World Landmarks cover world history. The lists of the books are down below with search boxes so that you can search Powell's more easily.
