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A Homeschooling Journey

by Stacey Carpenter

Pics & Papers
Landmark Books in Chronological Order

Landmark Books in Chronological Order

March 20, 2014 / / 17 Comments

Download a PDF list of Landmark books in chronological order:

Download

I really wanted to see a list of Landmark books in chronological order so I could decide which ones I wanted to keep an eye out for. Unfortunately, after extensive Googling, I couldn’t find a list. Every list I found was really a list of them in publication order. I also came across lots of people on forums who were looking for the same sort of list, so I decided to make one myself. You can download it above or view it on this page.

The Landmark Books series was published by Random House in the 50s and 60s. At first they were published as hardcovers with dust jackets. Later they had the cover images printed directly on the hardcover. Some of them were quite exciting true adventure stories that especially appealed to boys, and several books would be published each year. You could subscribe to them and get copies mailed to you. Currently there are several reprints (sometimes with changes) and several new books being published as Landmark Books in softcover. Most of the originals are out of print. There are over 180 Landmark Books in total in the original series. Tons of people, especially homeschoolers, collect these books. You can find them on e-Bay for $5 to $10 each, often cheaper if you buy them as a lot. Okay, enough about publication info.

Why are these books so cool? They’re popular for the same reason historical fiction books are popular. Historical fiction is awesome in that it can pull you in and show you what it was like to live in a time period or during a certain event. It’s way more exciting than a textbook–you actually cannot wait to find out what happens and will sit down to read chapter after chapter. Well-researched non-fiction history is so often dry, especially when it’s in textbook or encyclopedia form, written by a committee (barf). Landmark books are non-fiction history books; however, they were almost all written by talented authors whose passion it was to make history exciting and tell real stories as if they were novels.

A note about dates and time periods: First, the time periods are arranged according to the way Landmark books are best grouped. As a Christian, I would not likely agree with the presentation of events in the prehistory books. As a history teacher, I do not consider “U.S. Military, Secret Service, and FBI” to be a major time period; however, there are ten Landmark books on those topics, so it deserved it’s own category on this list. Secondly, the dates are not necessarily accurate. I do not own most of the Landmark books on this list, so a fair amount of searching and generalizing was necessary to put these in order. Some books cover several centuries or even millennia. For the most part, when a book focuses on a specific person, the dates listed are their birth and death dates. If you find any errors, feel free to e-mail me (link in sidebar) so I can correct them!

Prehistory

✓ # Title Author Dates
W01 The First Men in the World Ann Terry White
011 Prehistoric America Before 5000 BC Ann Terry White

Ancient Egypt

✓ # Title Author Dates
W59 The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt Elizabeth Payne 3100 BC +

Classical Greece

✓ # Title Author Dates
W40 The Adventures of Ulysses Gerald Gottlieb 1100s BC
W18 The Exploits of Xenophon Geoffrey Household 430-354 BC
W02 Alexander the Great John Gunther 356-323 BC

Classical Rome

✓ # Title Author Dates
W43 Julius Caesar John Gunther 100-44 BC
W50 Cleopatra of Egypt Leonora Hornblow 69-30 BC
W42 Jesus of Nazareth Harry Emerson Fosdick 7/2 BC – 30/33 AD
W53 The Life of Saint Paul Harry Emerson Fosdick 5-67 AD

Early Middle Ages/Dark Age

✓ # Title Author Dates
W17 The Life of Saint Patrick Quentin Reynolds 387-493 AD
W05 King Arthur & His Knights Mabel Louise Robinson 5th & 6th Centuries
012 The Vikings Elizabeth Janeway 8th-11th Centuries

High Middle Ages

✓ # Title Author Dates
W41 William the Conqueror Thomas B. Costain 1028-1087
W11 The Crusades Anthony West 1095-1291
W12 Genghis Kahn & the Mongol Horde Harold Lamb 1162-1227
W26 The Magna Charta James Daugherty 1215
W03 The Adventures & Discoveries of Marco Polo Richard J. Walsh 1254-1324

Late Middle Ages/Renaissance

✓ # Title Author Dates
W04 Joan of Arc Nancy Wilson Ross 1412-1431
W27 Leonardo da Vinci Emily Hahn 1452-1519
W30 The Fall of Constantinople Bernadine Kielty 1453
W06 Mary, Queen of Scots Emily Hahn 1542-1587

Reformation

✓ # Title Author Dates
W23 Martin Luther Harry Emerson Fosdick 1483-1546

Exploration/Elizabethan Period

✓ # Title Author Dates
001 The Voyages of Christopher Columbus Sperry Armstrong 1451-1506
W25 Balboa: Swordsman & Conquistador Felix Riesenberg 1475-1519
W31 Ferdinand Magellan: Master Mariner Seymour Gates Pond 1480-1521
W45 Captain Cortes Conquers Mexico William Johnson 1485-1547
W13 Queen Elizabeth & the Spanish Armada Frances Winwar 1533-1603
W58 Walter Raleigh Henrietta Buckmaster 1554-1618
W54 The Voyages of Henry Hudson Eugene Rachlis 1560-1611
W21 Will Shakespeare and the Globe Theater Anne Terry White 1564-1616
W38 The Flight and Adventures of Charles II Charles Norman 1630-1685
W39 Chief of the Cossacks Harold Lamb 1630-1671
W44 The Story of Australia A. Grove Day disc. 1606
W35 Famous Pirates of the New World A. B. C. Whipple 16th-19th Centuries
031 The Barbary Pirates C.S. Forester 16th-19th Centuries
002 The Landing of the Pilgrims James Daugherty 1620

Colonial America

✓ # Title Author Dates
003 Pocahontas and Captain John Smith Marie Lawson 1595-1617
115 The Story of the Thirteen Colonies Clifford Lindsey Alderman 1600s-1700s
043 Peter Stuyvesant of Old New York Anna and Russel Crouse 1612-1672
017 The Explorations of Père Marquette Jim Kjelgaard 1637-1675
069 The Witchcraft of Salem Village Shirley Jackson 1692-1693
098 William Penn: Quaker Hero Hildegarde Dolson 1644-1718
122 Captain Kidd A.B.C. Whipple 1645-1701
052 The Mississippi Bubble Thomas B. Costain 1716-1720
W24 The Hudson’s Bay Company Richard Morenus form. 1760
021 Daniel Boone John Mason Brown 1734-1820

Enlightenment Period

✓ # Title Author Dates
W19 Captain Cook Explores the South Seas Armstrong Sperry 1728-1779
W29 Catherine the Great Katherine Scherman 1729-1796
W20 Marie Antoinette Bernadine Kielty 1755-1793

Revolutions in America & France

✓ # Title Author Dates
063 Rogers Rangers and the French and Indian War Bradford Smith 1754-1763
074 Evangeline and the Acadians Robert Tallant 1755-1763
W15 The Slave Who Freed Haiti: The Story of Toussaint Louverture Katherine Scherman 1743-1803
W14 Simon Bolivar, the Great Liberator Arnold Whitridge 1783-1830
083 The American Revolution Bruce Bliven Jr. 1775-1783
004 Paul Revere and the Minute Men Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1735-1818
066 Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys Slater Brown 1738-1789
090 The Swamp Fox of the American Revolution Stewart H. Holbrook 1732-1795
039 John Paul Jones, Fighting Sailor Armstrong Sperry 1747-1792
W34 The Marquis de Lafayette: Bright Sword of Freedom Hodding Carter 1757-1834
033 The Winter at Valley Forge Van Wyck Mason 1777-1778
026 Betsy Ross and the Flag Jane Mayer 1752-1836
028 Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia Margaret Cousins 1706-1790
071 George Washington: Frontier Colonel Sterling North 1732-1799
036 Thomas Jefferson, Father of Democracy Vincent Sheean 1743-1826
005 Our Independence and the Constitution Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1776-1788

Regency Era in England/Early U.S.

✓ # Title Author Dates
W55 Hero of Trafalgar A. B. C. Whipple 1805
W16 The Story of Scotland Yard Laurence Thompson form. 1829
W28 General Brock and Niagara Falls Samuel Hopkins Adams 1769-1812
W07 Napoleon & the Battle of Waterloo Frances Winwar 1769-1821
051 Old Ironsides, the Fighting Constitution Harry Hansen 1797-1812
019 The Pirate Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans Robert Tallant 1815
085 Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Anna and Russel Crouse 1804 duel
047 Dolly Madison Jane Mayer 1768-1849
034 The Erie Canal Samuel Hopkins Adams opened 1825
076 Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too! Stanley Young 1840
048 John James Audubon Margaret and John Kieran 1785-1851
064 The World’s Greatest Showman: P.T. Barnum John Bryan III 1810-1891

Westward Expansion in the U.S.

✓ # Title Author Dates
024 The Louisiana Purchase Robert Tallant 1803
015 The Lewis and Clark Expedition Richard L. Neuberger 1804-1806
050 War Chief of the Seminoles May McNeer 1804-1838
091 Heroines of the Early West (Sacajawea to Abigail Duniway) Nancy Wilson Ross 1806-1912
029 Trappers and Traders of the Far West James Daugherty 1810-1812
065 Sequoyah: Leader of the Cherokees Alice Marriot 1770-1843
045 Robert Fulton and the Steamboat Ralph Nading Hill 1765-1815
091 Heroines of the Early West (Sacajawea to Abigail Duniway) Nancy Wilson Ross 1806-1912
021 Daniel Boone John Mason Brown 1734-1820
067 Davy Crockett Stewart H. Holbrook 1786-1836
032 Sam Houston, the Tallest Texan William Johnson 1793-1863
013 The Santa Fe Trail Samuel Hopkins Adams 1821-1880
079 Remember the Alamo! Robert Penn Warren 1836
053 Kit Carson and the Wild Frontier Ralph Moody 1809-1868
042 To California by Covered Wagon George R. Stewart 1844
037 The Coming of the Mormons Jim Kjelgaard 1846
006 The California Gold Rush May McNeer 1849
113 Young Mark Twain and the Mississippi Harnett T. Kane 1835-1851
040 The First Overland Mail Robert Pinkerton 1857
007 The Pony Express Samuel Hopkins Adams 1860
081 Geronimo: Wolf of the Warpath Ralph Moody 1861
020 Custer’s Last Stand Quentin Reynolds 1876
025 Wild Bill Hickok Tames the West Stewart H. Holbrook 1837-1876
060 Up the Trail from Texas J. Frank Dobie 1866-1894
092 The Alaska Gold Rush May McNeer 1897-1899
067 Wyatt Earp: U.S. Marshall Stewart H. Holbrook 1848-1929
073 Buffalo Bill’s Great Wild West Show Walter Havighurst 1880s-1908
072 The Texas Rangers Will Henry 1835

Civil War in the U.S.

✓ # Title Author Dates
061 Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House Sterling North 1809-1865
044 Lincoln and Douglas: The Years of Decision Regina Z. Kelly 1858
054 Robert E. Lee and the Road of Honor Hodding Carter 1807-1870
023 Gettysburg MacKinlay Kantor 1863
086 Stonewall Jackson Jonathan Daniels 1824-1863
016 The Monitor and the Merrimac Fletcher Pratt 1862
008 Lee and Grant at Appomattox MacKinlay Kantor 1865
058 Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross Helen Dore Boylston 1821-1912

Victorian Period & Imperialism (Rest of World)

✓ # Title Author Dates
W37 Queen Victoria Noel Streatfeild 1819-1901
W46 Florence Nightingale Ruth Fox Hume 1820-1910
W22 The French Foreign Legion Wyatt Blassingame form. 1831
W32 Garibaldi: Father of Modern Italy Marcia Davenport 1860s
032 Clipper Ship Days John Jennings mid 19 Cent.
056 Commodore Perry and the Opening of Japan Ferdinand Kuhn 1794-1858

Industrial Revolution

✓ # Title Author Dates
088 The First Transatlantic Cable Adele Gutman Nathan 1865
009 The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad Adele Gutman Nathan 1880
093 The Golden Age of Railroads Stewart H. Holbrook 1830-1920
080 Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel Katherine B. Shippen 1835-1919
030 Mr. Bell invents the Telephone Katherine B. Shippen 1870s
109 Disaster at Johnstown: The Great Flood Hildegarde Dolson 1889
041 Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders Henry Castor 1898

Turn of the Century

✓ # Title Author Dates
W09 The Man Who Changed China: The Story of Sun Yat-sen Pearl S. Buck 1866-1925
059 The Story of San Francisco Charlotte Jackson 1906
107 Women of Courage Adele Gutman Nathan Early 1900s?
018 The Panama Canal Bob Considine 1880-1914
010 The Wright Brothers Quentin Reynolds 1903
027 The Conquest of the North and South Poles Russell Owen 1909, 1929
110 The Story of Alva Edison Margaret Cousins 1869-1910
068 The First Automobile Elizabeth Janeway late 1800s/early 1900s
038 George Washington Carver, the Story of a Great American Anne Terry 1864-1943

World War I

✓ # Title Author Dates
W52 Lawrence of Arabia Alistair MacLean 1888-1935
W60 The Flying Aces of World War I Gene Gurney 1914-1918
082 The Story of the Paratroops George Weller also WWII

Interwar Period

✓ # Title Author Dates
W08 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Richard L. Neuberger form. 1920
W33 The Story of Albert Schweitzer Anita Daniel 1875-1965
100 The Story of Oklahoma Lon Tinkle 1930s
078 The Doctors Who Conquered Yellow Fever Ralph Nading Hill 1940

World War II

✓ # Title Author Dates
W56 Winston Churchill Quentin Reynolds 1874-1965
W47 The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler William L. Shirer 1889-1945
W10 The Battle of Britain Quentin Reynolds 1940
W51 The Sinking of the Bismarck William L. Shirer 1941
W61 The Commandos of World War II Hodding Carter 1939-1945
087 The Battle for the Atlantic Jay Williams 1940-1945
096 Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II Wyatt Blassingame 1939-1945
082 The Story of the Paratroops George Weller also WWI
103 The Seabees of World War II Wyatt Blassingame 1939-1945
116 Combat Nurses of World War II Wyatt Blassingame 1939-1945
120 Medical Corps Heroes of World WarII Wyatt Blassingame 1941-1945
106 The U.S. Frogmen of World War II Wyatt Blassingame 1941-1945
094 From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa Bruce Bliven Jr. 1941-1945
105 The Flying Tigers John Toland 1941-1942
035 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Bob Considine and Ted Lawson 1942
055 Guadalcanal Diary Richard Tregaskis 1942
119 Midway: Battle for the Pacific Edmund L. Castillo 1942
099 John F. Kennedy and PT 109 Richard Tregaskis 1943
112 From Casablanca to Berlin Bruce Bliven, Jr. 1943-1945
062 The Story of D-Day Bruce Bliven, Jr. 1944
114 Battle of the Bulge John Toland 1944
118 The Battle for Iwo Jima Robert Leckie 1945

Cold War/Space Exploration

✓ # Title Author Dates
W48 The Story of Atomic Energy Laura Fermi 20th Century
W57 The War in Korea: 1950 – 1953 Robert Leckie 1950-1953
108 Dwight D. Eisenhower Malcom Moos 1890-1969
101 Americans into Orbit: The Story of Project Mercury Gene Gurney 1962
117 Walk in Space: The Story of Project Gemini Gene Gurney 1966

U.S. Military, Secret Service, & FBI

✓ # Title Author Dates
111 Medal of Honor Heroes Colonel Red Reeder 1914-1955
084 The Story of the Naval Academy Felix Riesenberg, Jr. 1845-1958
102 The Story of Submarines George Weller 1954
089 The Story of the Air Force Robert Loomis 1903-1959
014 The Story of the U.S. Marines George Hunt 1775-1950s
070 The Story of West Point Colonel Red and Campion Reeder, Nardi Reeder 1600s-1950s
075 The Story of the Secret Service Ferdinand Kuhn 1960s
104 The U.S. Border Patrol Clement Hellyer 1925-1960
097 The Story of the U.S. Coast Guard Eugene Rachlis 1790-1961
121 Flat-Tops: The Story of Aircraft Carriers Edmund Castillo 1910-1968

Beyond

✓ # Title Author Dates
W62 Ben-Gurion and the Birth of Israel Joan Comay 1886-1973
W63 The United Nations in War and Peace T. R. Fehrenback 20th Century

Books That Don’t Fit Time Specific Periods

✓ # Title Author Dates
W49 Great Men of Medicine Ruth Fox Hume 1500s-1900s
W36 Exploring the Himalaya William O. Douglas
049 Hawaii, Gem of the Pacific Oscar Lewis
Next post
10 Qualities of Good History Books

History | Homeschooling

16 Comments

  1. Theresa Raker

    June 14, 2014 at 7:05 pm

    I love your Landmark booklist. I have moved and have been trying to put them in order, again, and your list will help me! Thank you. I teach social studies (American history with North Carolina) to 8th graders and they don’t want to read anything. My 5th graders used to love these books, but my current kids don’t seem to want to do much except visit with each other. I have A LOT of these books and would love to think of some way to get them, force them, into the hands of my 13 year olds! The reading level is not difficult and I agree that the books are engaging and written by well known authors such as Sterling North. I envy you being a homeschool teacher. Public school is so difficult and I just finished my 22 year, and each year just gets harder and harder. Any ideas on how to use these books with 29 students would be appreciated. Thank you for your list. Theresa

    Reply
    • Stacey (Post author)

      July 8, 2014 at 3:44 pm

      I love that you are trying to include them in your classroom! Many kids have been raised on a steady diet of glossy, colorful books with lots of pictures for history (think Usborne books). They look like they will be much more exciting than an old, possibly musty book with only a few line drawings. I can think of one way you might get them inspired to read them (short of assigning book reviews for them, which is not so likely to make them love them like you do). Maybe you could ask them to read one Landmark book and more current Usborne-type book on the same topic and compare the books. Ask them whether they prefer the fact- and picture-filled books with lots of little sections on interesting tidbits or whether they prefer the more connected story-style Landmark books. Ask which one gave them a better sense of what it was like to actually live in that period. Ask them which book is better suited to visual or verbal learners. Ask them whether they think publishers make history books now to read more like the internet and suit our sometimes short attention spans. And definitely ask them if they can find any differences in the amount of political correctness in the two books. At that age, the students might find it really interesting to compare or harshly critique the two books. 13 year olds like to argue and have opinions, so taking that approach might help. I’d love to hear if you try that or any other method and how it turns out!

      Reply
  2. Autumn

    June 19, 2014 at 6:06 pm

    Thank you so much for this awesome list and the check boxes too. I am trying to collect all of them for our homeschool. This will be invaluable!

    Reply
  3. Theresa Raker

    June 20, 2014 at 11:48 am

    So you have inspired me to put in order and count my set. I have 132 different ones, multiple copies of some. I noticed that Daniel Boone is on your list twice, and it works in both sections! Three of my books were not on your list: The Copper Kings of Montana by Marian T. Place–American’s First World War by Henry Castor–The FBI by Quentin Reynolds…..probably just an oversight. Again, I love your list and thank you.

    Reply
    • Stacey (Post author)

      July 8, 2014 at 3:47 pm

      Thank you so much for pointing that out! I will definitely revise the list as soon as I can. I’m without my own computer until late August, but when I have access to the PDF, I’ll update it there, too.
      p.s. I don’t have those three, so for the Montana and FBI ones, the dates will be estimates based on my internet searching. Please let me know if I get them totally wrong!

      Reply
  4. marisolstice

    June 30, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    Thanks so much for organizing this list…it’s a great help!

    Reply
  5. Lori

    July 28, 2014 at 3:24 pm

    Hi Stacey, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! This post drew me to your blog and I’m glad I found you. Blessings!

    Reply
  6. Kim M

    August 28, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    Thank you so much! I found you through a search engine looking for this very thing

    Reply
  7. Melanie Siau

    November 20, 2014 at 8:06 am

    Thanks so so so much for this, I feel like you saved me a million hours!!!

    Reply
  8. George

    December 30, 2014 at 3:31 pm

    Hi Stacey,

    Thank you so much for doing this work on the Landmark Books in Chronological Order.
    This is a wonderful resource. I am trying to build a collection of Landmark books just for the sake of redoing my childhood. As they say, it is never to later to have a happy childhood, it just gets more expensive as you get older.

    Also, I think there is a good series of books on science, nature and technology, to compliment the Landmark Books on History; Golden Library of Knowledge. They may be for a 10-12 year old reader, smaller print but may drawings.
    http://www.librarything.com/series/The+Golden+Library+of+Knowledge

    On a totally different topic – Naikan.
    See what you think about this book for teaching gratitude and compassion.
    http://www.amazon.com/Naikan-Gratitude-Grace-Japanese-Self-Reflection/dp/1880656639.

    Bye for now,

    George

    Reply
  9. Jennifer

    June 15, 2015 at 7:44 pm

    Thank you so much for making this wonderful list! It will make searching for Landmarks much easier now that I have specific titles. May God bless you and your growing family!

    Reply
  10. Catie

    October 19, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    This is awesome! Thank you!

    Reply
  11. Sarah

    October 24, 2015 at 9:12 am

    Thank you SO much for sharing your hard work! I am so very grateful, this is exactly what I was looking for. :-) God bless you and your family!

    Reply

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