Places in Time: A New Atlas of American History [Paperback]

Susan Buckley (Author), Elspeth Leacock (Author), Randy Jones (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

A tiny whaling village along the Pacific in 1490, New Plymouth as the Pilgrims settled in, Fort Mose as it welcomed African Americans escaping from slavery, Gettysburg on the day that decided the Civil War . . . Places in Time offers a bird’s-eye view of twenty sites where American history was made. Each page opens an unforgettable window to the past, where you can find out just what it was like to live in one place on one day in our nation’s history.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-In the first book, a winning blend of facts, maps, and the drama of a well-written story results in an unusual and exciting view of this country's past. Some of the 20 individuals highlighted are well known, such as Daniel Boone, Ben Franklin, and Louis Armstrong. Others are more obscure, like Dame Shirley, a New England woman in the Gold Rush, and Venture Smith, an enslaved six-year-old African prince. Each double-page spread features an introduction, a story with numbered paragraphs relating to the map or illustration, a fact box, and colorful illustrations. All information is carefully researched and includes many primary resources. Any fictionalizing is marked with single quotation marks, while statements with actual historical evidence have double quotes. The second title uses the same format to present 20 sites in American history at the moment of their historical significance, beginning in 1200 (Cahokia) and ending in 1953. Places and times include New Plymouth-1627, Charlestown-1739, Saratoga-1777, Philadelphia-1787, Abilene-1871, and Chicago-1893. The detailed cutaway views of homes, forts, and mills are impressive enough to keep readers looking again and again. These fascinating slices of life stir the imagination and lead to questions and further research. Neither title has a bibliography, but scholars, historians, libraries, and museums are credited in the notes sections. While the books are perfect for individual perusal, educators will delight in the curriculum potential.

Pamela K. Bomboy, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Reviewed with Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley's Journeys in Time.

Gr. 4-6. A companion to Leacock's Journeys in Time, this book frames our country's history in visits to 20 significant historic places, from the bustling ancient North American city of Cahokia and colonial battlefields of Saratoga and Gettysburg to Ellis Island and an early 1950s suburban tract house. Remarkably every one of the incidents or episodes is recast from actual historical accounts, usually of an eyewitness or participant. The painted illustrations are also careful reconstructions: either uncluttered maps on which a red line traces each journey, or elevated or cutaway views of the featured places showing accurately rendered landforms, buildings, and even individual rooms. A key matches significant events or locations in pictures and texts, and a box of background facts ends every spread and helps to create a wider perspective. As the source notes show, Leacock and Buckley have drawn their information not just from published documents but from archives and their own interviews as well. A great way to get readers interested in the U.S.'s past and people. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (June 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618311130
• ISBN-13: 978-0618311132
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 10.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #970,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Reference & Nonfiction > Atlases

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personalized History, July 8, 2001

By 

Fred Ritsema (Des Moines, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Places in Time: A New Atlas of American History (Hardcover)

It does not simply show war battle sites. Historic places like a New England factory town, 1770's Philadelphia, and a slave plantation are also shown. Do not think of this as a map book. Cutaway drawings/paintings with labels show the reader a typical plantation, factory town, a 1950's planned suburb and battle scenes. It is a way of making history accessible and put a personal face on it. It is different in a very good way.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is a GREAT disappointment., November 4, 2007

By 

KLSF "inquisitive one" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Places in Time: A New Atlas of American History (Paperback)

The drawings in this book are three dimensional and quite well done. However, there is NO mention of the earliest European settlements in America North of Florida and the Rio Grande in this book at all. The early Spanish settlements in Florida are ignored and that is, perhaps, understandable because the Spanish presence was somewhat temporary. However, it also ignores Jamestowne Settlement in 1607 and the introduction of African Americans in 1619. Those seminal events didn't happen if you take this book at face value.

It is well accepted that the British Empire began with the settlement of Jamestowne. It is certain that the permanent and some would say decisive presence of Europeans in what was to become the United States and Canada began there. This book ignores those facts and, instead, gives us a rehash of the Plymouth, Mass. mythology of the Pilgrims settlement.

While the addition of more modern locations is useful, that does not compensate for the glaring omissions.

It isn't worth the price of purchase, in my opinion.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fun, gorgeous, fascinating, July 21, 2002

By 

audrey (white mtns) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Places in Time: A New Atlas of American History (Hardcover)

What a wonderful book! You can help your middle schooler envision locales of historic interest with these twenty two-page spreads. Pictures use up most of the space and depict people, including children, in typical doings; some cross-sections are employed. The text of several paragraphs describes the place physically, culturally and historically, and sometimes stories are personalized through the experience of a child. Numbered entries point out events or items of interest. Very nicely done and a terrific aid for visual learners.

Presented in chronological order, the sites are: Cahokia, 1200 AD; a Pacific Northwest whaling village, 1490; a pueblo and mission, 1627; New Plymouth, 1627; Charlestown, 1739; a black settlement/fort, 1759; Boonesborough, Kentucky, 1776; battle of Saratoga, 1777; Philadelphia, 1787; a Taos hacienda, 1823; Fort Laramie, 1849; a New England mill town, 1850; a plantation, 1855; Gettysburg, 1863; Abilene, 1871; a wheat farm, 1888; a Chicago mansion, 1893; Ellis Island, 1901; a New York tenement, 1916; a post-WWII housing project, 1953. An index is included.

Very nicely done. Highly recommended.