Amazing History Resource!

Heritage History is "putting the 'story' back in 'history'."  A homeschooling mom and dad from Washington State have collected over 500 children's history stories that have long since gone out of print, and reproduced them in one easy, convenient location.  Looking for a story from Ancient Greece or the Spanish Empire days?  They've got them. You can find and read all of the stories online, but for your convenience, and in order to support their efforts at preserving history, you can purchase CDs or e-reader versions.  

"The mission of Heritage History is to make old-fashioned history books, written for the enjoyment of young people, easily available."

I was given a copy of British Empire to review.  From the cover:  This curriculum "focuses on 18th and 19th century world history, presented from a British viewpoint.  Stories that highlight achievements of modern Britain, such as scientific discovery, exploration, invention and industry, and the rise of international commerce are featured, along with those that cover the regional histories of Ireland, Canada, British Africa, and East Asia."

A few of the 57 stories included are:
Struggle for Sea Power
Our Island Story - the Hanoverians
Oom Paul's People
Boy of Old Japan
Thrilling Deeds of British Airmen
The Boy's Book of Battles
Heroes of the Indian Mutiny
Captain Cook
Horatio Nelson
In the Days of Queen Victoria
Florence Nightengale
and Land of the Golden Trade

Don't some of those titles just MAKE you want to grab up the book and read it?  There's more to it than just the books that have been captured and preserved.  This disc also holds 50 historical maps.  My son just loves to look at stuff like that!  

"Heritage History [also] provides pre-printed study guides to accompany each of its Classical Curriculum CDs.  Each study guide includes historical maps, outline maps, time-lines, era summaries, character lists, battle dictionaries, recommend[ed] reading lists and other study aids."  A huge wealth of information that would supplement any history study -- if not fulfill all of it.  If you buy the CDs, you get the study guide included in .pdf form.  If you just want to read the stories online, you can purchase the study guide separately pre-printed in color for $24.99 or download for $12.99.

So, for this CD, you get 57 books, 50 maps and the study guide for $24.99.  What an amazing resource.  The website is really well done, easy to navigate and gives you lots of "freebies" as you go along.  You can easily tell what stories are geared for elementary and which are geared for "intermediate" or "advanced" readers.  

There are other eras to choose from.  Besides British Empire, there is:

Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Middle Ages & Reformation
British Middle Ages
Christian Europe
Early Modern to 20th Century
Introduction to Western Civilization
Spanish Empire
and Young Readers

If you want your kids to ENJOY history, rather than just PASS history, then take a few minutes and really check these out!  I think you will be glad you did!  There is a spring sale going on right now, buy 2, get one free!

Disclaimer:
As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I was provided a free copy of The Heritage History British Empire Classical Curriculum CD for free in exchange for an honest review.