Beautiful Feet Books Blog: Product Feature: US and World History Parts I & II

Our US and World History program is designed for high school students wanting an in-depth study of US and World history from the Civil War through the Vietnam War. It features some of our favorite books like To Kill a Mockingbird as well as three titles by Albert Marrin. The course has four parts, one for each semester of two years. Today we will feature the literature for the first year. The study includes a multitude of essential events, political figures, inventions, technological advances, social climates, and movements are all examined with study notes, comprehensive questions, vocabulary, and essay questions encouraging the mature student to evaluate and determine the lessons of history. Rea's most extensive guide, our award-winning U.S. and World History Study Guide (92 pages) also includes detailed teacher's notes for the essential literature used in the course. The study guide is divided into four sections and it is suggested that one section be completed each semester, resulting in a two-year study. Students will delight in the fine, award-winning literature of such masters as Harper Lee, Stephen Crane, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Irene Hunt, Meindert Dejong, Harold Keith, Albert Marrin and others. Web sites, recommended movies, and original source materials are also suggested. Three History of US titles by Joy Hakim are used in the study as background texts or used to fill in for the lack of literature. Highly recommended for the 'I love to read', inquisitive student! Below are the books featured in the study.

Part I (or Semester I)

Uncle Tom's Cabin brought the evils of slavery to the consciences and hearts of the American people by its moving portrayal of slave experience. Harriet Beecher Stowe shows us in scenes of great dramatic power the human effects of an economic system in which slaves were property: the break up of families, the struggles for freedom, the horrors of plantation labor. She brings into fiction the different voices of the emerging American nation, the Southern slave-owning classes, Northern abolitionists, children, the sorrow songs and dialect of slaves, as well the language of political debate and religious zeal. The novel was, and is, controversial, abrasive in its demand for change, yet also brilliant in the deployment of dialogue, with great comic skill and a power of pathos that made it a runaway bestseller in its time that continues to move us today. A classic that should not be missed in a study of the Civil War. Though language at times is difficult, we have read it aloud with great success to ages from 8-15.

Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers Harriet Beecher Stowe opposed slavery with a passion, but she was a housewife with six children. What could she do? "You can write," her sister-in-law said. So she did. In 1852 her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was published, and Harriet became an instant celebrity. This shouldn't have been surprising. Harriet was a Beecher, and all the Beechers made names for themselves. Her father, Lyman Beecher, was the most renowned preacher in America, but he didn't expect much from his girls. He was collecting boys because he wanted a lot of preachers in the family. He ended up with seven preachers in the family, but in her own way Harriet was the best of the lot. She became famous not just at home but all over Europe as well. When she traveled to England, crowds gathered in the streets just to see her, and thousands attended her public meetings. President Lincoln called her "the little lady who made this big war." What was she like, this nineteenth-century daughter, wife, and mother who said, "Writing is my element" and "I have determined not to be a mere domestic slave"? Award-winning biographer Jean Fritz brings this remarkable woman and her extraordinary family to life.

Across Five Aprils The unforgettable story of young Jethro Creighton, who comes of age during the turbulent years of the Civil War, by the Newbery Award-winning author Irene Hunt. Poignant, heartwarming, and heart-breaking story of an Illinois farm family and their saga during the Civil War. Insightful look at how war affects even the closest families. Well-researched and highly recommended. "An impressive book both as a historically authentic Civil War novel and as a beautifully written family story." -University of Chicago Center for Children's Books

Rifles for Watie In the Indian country south of Kansas there was dread in the air;

and the name, Stand Watie, was on every tongue. A hero to the rebel, a devil to the Union man, Stand Watie led the Cherokee Indian Nation fearlessly and successfully on savage raids behind the Union lines. Jeff came to know the Watie men only too well. He was probably the only soldier in the West to see the Civil War from both sides and live to tell about it. Amid the roar of cannon and the swish of flying grape, Jeff learned what it meant to fight in battle. This is a rich and sweeping novel-rich in its panorama of history; in its details so clear that the reader never doubts for a moment that he is there; in its dozens of different people, each one fully realized and wholly recognizable. It is a story of a lesser-known part of the Civil War, the Western campaign, a part different in its issues and its problems, and fought with a different savagery. Inexorably it moves to a dramatic climax, evoking a brilliant picture of a war and the men of both sides who fought in it. This Newbery Medal winner is a book that will really appeal to boys who have an interest in the Civil War drama. The story of a young Union recruit who is given opportunity to see the war from both sides, and must make some difficult choices in the process.

The Red Badge of Courage Published thirty years after the Civil War, this "impressionistic" American classic tells a war story in a thoroughly modern way - without a trace of romanticizing. Through the eyes of ordinary soldier Henry Fleming, we follow his psychological turmoil, from the excitement of patriotism to the bloody realities of battle and his flight from it. In the end, he overcomes his fear and disillusionment, and fights with courage. The first great 'modern' novel of war by an American.

Sojourner Truth, Ain't I a Woman? In 1797, a slave named Isabella was born in New York. After being freed in 1827, she chose the name by which she has been remembered long after her death - Sojourner Truth.Truth was a preacher, an abolitionist, an activist for the rights of both blacks and women. Although she couldn't read, she could quote the Bible word for word, and was a powerful speaker. An imposing six feet tall, with a profound faith in God's love and a deep rich voice, she stirred audiences around the country until her death in 1883. Read about her profound faith in God's love and the fruit that it bore!

Virginia's General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War Portraying the sterling character of this admired hero, Marrin paints a complete picture of this complex man. Divided between his dislike of slavery and his loyalty to his beloved Virginia, Lee rose from an impoverished and tragic childhood to become one of the greatest military minds America has ever known even while being lauded for his kind, generous leadership. Marrin writes of Lee while including the stories of the ordinary soldiers, the Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks. The victories, defeats, successes and failures of each side are portrayed in vivid and personal detail.

Reconstruction, Binding the Wounds A collection of first person accounts and secondary sources of the rebuilding the nation following the devastation of the Civil War. Focuses on the civil, social and economic problems of the day concerning the freed slaves, carpetbaggers, government policy, KKK, Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan and more. Includes personal diary entries, newspaper clippings, photographs, and much more.

Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington, 'He lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry.' Booker T. Washington's devotion to the virtues of godliness, honesty, thrift, perseverance, cleanliness and hard work left a honorable legacy that's inspired many. This is part of American history, that all students should know.

Around the World in Eighty Days A fastidious English gentleman makes a remarkable wager - he will travel around the world in eighty days or forfeit his life's savings. Thus begins Jules Verne's classic 1872 novel, which remains unsurpassed in sheer story-telling entertainment and pure adventure. Phileas Fogg and his faithful manservant, Jean Passepartout, embark on a fantastic journey into a world filled with danger and beauty - from the exotic shores of India, where the heroic travelers rescue a beautiful Raja's wife from ritual sacrifice, to the rugged American frontier, where their train is ambushed by an angry Sioux tribe. Fogg's mission is complicated by an incredible case of mistaken identity that sends a Scotland Yard detective in hot pursuit. At once a riveting race against time and an action-packed odyssey into the unknown, Around the World in Eighty Days is a masterpiece of adventure fiction that has captured the imaginations of generations of readers - and continues to enthrall us today.

Part II (or Semester II)

A History of US: An Age of Extremes covers the time period 1880-1917. For the captains of industry men like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, and Henry Ford the Gilded Age is a time of big money. Technology boomed with the invention of trains, telephones, electric lights, harvesters, vacuum cleaners, and more. But for millions of immigrant workers, it is a time of big struggles, with adults and children alike working 12 to 14 hours a day under extreme, dangerous conditions. The disparity between the rich and the poor was dismaying, which prompted some people to action. In An Age of Extremes , you'll meet Mother Jones, Ida Tarbell, Big Bill Haywood, Sam Gompers, and other movers and shakers, and get swept up in the enthusiasm of Teddy Roosevelt. You'll also watch the United States take its greatest role on the world stage since the Revolution, as it enters the bloody battlefields of Europe in World War I. Hakim's history is vivid and engaging, told in story form.

A History of US, War, Peace, and All that Jazz From woman's suffrage to Babe Ruth's home runs, from Louis Armstrong's jazz to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's four presidential terms, from the finale of one world war to the dramatic close of the second, War, Peace, and All That Jazz presents the story of some of the most exciting years in U.S. history. With the end of World War I, many Americans decided to live it up, going to movies, driving cars, and cheering baseball games aplenty. But alongside this post-WWI spree was high unemployment, hard times for farmers, ever-present racism, and, finally, the Depression, the worst economic disaster in U.S. history, flip-flopping the nation from prosperity to scarcity. Along came one of our country's greatest leaders, F.D.R., who promised a New Deal, gave Americans hope, and then saw them through the horrors and victories of World War II. These three decades-full of optimism and despair, progress and Depression, and, of course, War, Peace, and All That Jazz-forever changed the United States. All of Hakim's books are filled with an abundance of pictures, graphs, maps and a chronology of events that are all very useful.

Upton Sinclair’s muckraking masterpiece The Jungle centers on Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant working in Chicago’s infamous Packingtown. Instead of finding the American Dream, Rudkus and his family inhabit a brutal, soul-crushing urban jungle dominated by greedy bosses, pitiless con-men, and corrupt politicians. While Sinclair’s main target was the industry’s appalling labor conditions, the reading public was most outraged by the disgusting filth and contamination in American food that his novel exposed. As a result, President Theodore Roosevelt demanded an official investigation, which quickly led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug laws. For a work of fiction to have such an impact outside its literary context is extremely rare. (At the time of The Jungle’s publication in 1906, the only novel to have led to social change on a similar scale in America was Uncle Tom’s Cabin.) Today, The Jungle remains a relevant portrait of capitalism at its worst and an impassioned account of the human spirit facing nearly insurmountable challenges. Always a vigorous champion on political reform, Sinclair is also a gripping storyteller, and his 1906 novel stands as one of the most important -- and moving -- works in the literature of social change.

Bully for you, Teddy Roosevelt Today's preeminent biographer for young people brings to life our colorful 26th president. Conservationist, hunter, family man, and politician, Teddy Roosevelt commanded the respect and admiration of many who marveled at his energy, drive and achievements. An ALA Notable Book. A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.'Like her fast and furious subject, Fritz's style is full of action and drive.' - Booklist. From national parks to teddy bears, evidence of Roosevelt's influence on America is all around.

The Yanks are Coming Marrin relates the gripping story of how the Yanks "came over" to aid the European Allies and turn the tide in the first Great War. How the United States mobilized industry, trained doughboy soldiers, and promoted the war at home makes for fascinating reading in one of the few books on this topic for young adults. The human cost of the war is poignantly related in tales of the action at Chateau Thierry and Belleau Woods, in the air with the daring men of the Army Air Corps, and with the Lost Battalion at the Battle of Meuse-Argonne. From the sinking of the Lusitania to Armistice Day, Marrin tells the heartrending and inspiring story of the "war to end all wars." Illustrated with maps and photographs.

All Quiet on the Western Front Contemporary classic confronting the morality of war. Story of young German soldiers during WW I "on the threshold of life, facing an abyss of death..." Considered one of the greatest war stories ever written -- and one of the classics of antiwar literature -- Remarque's 1929 masterpiece tells the story of young Paul Baumer, who enlists in the German Army in World War I and takes place with his comrades in the trenches.

"The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure." - The New York Times Book Review

Stalin, Russia's Man of Steel When Joseph Djugashvili was born the son of a poor shoemaker, few suspected he would rise to become one of the twentieth century's most ruthless and powerful dictators. Enamored as a young man with the revolutionary politics of Lenin, he joined the underground Marxist Party and began his pursuit of power by leading strikes and demonstrations. Six times he was exiled to Siberia for his illicit activities, escaping many times despite below freezing temperatures and on one occasion an attack by a pack of wolves. His instinctive ability to command authority and divide the opposition through lies and deceit set him on a path he would follow to become Russia's most absolute dictator. He was never reticent to shed innocent blood in the pursuit of his own ends, and he carefully orchestrated demonstrations that brought about massacres that he then used to his own revolutionary ends. His vision was far reaching, and while his initial purpose was to establish a Soviet socialist state his larger goal was world domination. Ultimately responsible for the deaths of over 30 million—13 million alone in the Ukrainian famine he caused—Stalin's life is a sober and heartbreaking account of the reign of terror suffered by countless millions at the hands of one man. Illustrated with photographs.