Textbooks and Publishers

The following are lists of the textbooks and the publishers we evaluated:

The questions of how comprehensive our selections were, and which of these texts have greater or lesser sales, and therefore, influence, are important questions that we have tried to answer, but have not yet. Publishers hold those figures private and we have not found the equivalent of a Dunn & Bradstreet or any industry reports that will divulge those data. The text target level was therefore determined by our committee and represented by the words early secondary, late secondary, or advanced placement, and appear in parenthesis next to the text number. It would be nice to know if those particularly poorer texts have larger or smaller sales figures. Since the better texts are published by larger companies, and the problematic texts are published by lesser companies, it may be a safe assumption that the misinformation or lack of information is limited.

One more observation; unlike Korea with a central governmental agency that controls textbook publication for the entire country, the situation in the United States is extremely diverse. Not only does the Department of Education not have influence, let alone control, over the publishing or adoption of textbooks, many states do not have authority to determine which textbooks are used. Two large states, California and Texas, have a central textbook adoption policy. But the publishers compete with each other in the myriad subjects and grade levels to win the acceptance of these two states. In other states, like Utah, the state office of education evaluates all texts offered by the publishers, approves most, and then school districts or in some cases individual schools choose the text they like best. It is an extremely diverse and complicated situation with dozens of books available in each discipline.


List of World History Texts

The following is a list of the World History Texts that were used in our study. Click on the title to view the textbook's individual evaluation.

Title Publisher Author World History Rank
The World: Past and Present, East and West Macmillan Banks et. al., 1995 1 (early secondary)
The Pageant of World History Prentice Hall Gerald Leinwand, 1994 2 (late secondary)
World History: The Human Experience Glencoe Mounir Farah and Andrea Berens Karls, 1994 3 (late secondary)
The Heritage of World Civilizations Macmillan Craig et al., 1994 4 (early secondary)
Global Studies: Civilizations of Past and Present Amsco Henry Brun, 1988 5 (early secondary)
World History: People and Nations Holt, Rinehart and Winston Anotole G. Mazour and John M. Peoples, 1993 6 (late secondary)
World History Amsco Irving I. Gordon, 1993 7 (late secondary)
History and Life Scott, Foresman Walter T. Wallbank, et al., 1993 8 (late secondary)
World History: Perspectives on the Past D. C. Heath Karen Kazorosian and Carol Ann Skinner, 1988 9 (late secondary)
Experiencing World History Media Materials Wayne E. King and Marcel Lewinski, 1991 10 (early secondary)
World History: Perspectives on the Past D. C. Heath Krieger, Jantzen and Neil, 1992 11 (late secondary)
The Human Experience: A World History Merrill Publishing Company Mounir Farah and Andrea Berens Karls, 1990 12 (late secondary)
World History: Traditions and New Directions Addison-Wesley Stearns, Schwartz and Beyer, 1989 13 (late secondary)
Living World History Scott, Foresman Walter T. Wallbank and Arnold Schrier, 1990 14 (late secondary)
A History of Civilization: Prehistory to the Present Prentice Hall Winks et al., 1992 15 (advanced placement)
A History of the World Houghton Mifflin Company Marvin Perry, 1988 16 (late secondary)
Links Across Time and Places: A World History McDougal, Littell & Company Ross E. Dunn, et al., 1990 17 (late secondary)
World History: Patterns of Civilization Prentice Hall Burton F. Beers, 1993 18 (late secondary)
Exploring World History Globe Sol Holt and John R. O'Connor, 1990 19 (late secondary)
History of the World Houghton Mifflin Company Marvin Perry, et al., 1993 20 (late secondary)
History of the World: The Modern Era Houghton Mifflin Marvin Perry et al., 1994 21 (late secondary)
History of the Human Community: Prehistory to the Present Prentice Hall William H. McNeill, 1993 22 (late secondary)
World History Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Reich, Krug and Biller, 1990 23 (early secondary)
World History: Prehistoric Times to the Present Janus Diane Hart, 1991 24 (early secondary)
Exploring a Changing World Globe Melvin Schwartz and John O'Connor, 1993 25 (late secondary)
Fearon's World History Fearon Education Joanne Suter, 1990 26 (early secondary)
World History and You Steck-Vaughn Vivian Bernstein, 1993 27 (early secondary)
Human Heritage: A World History Glencoe Miriam Greenblatt and Peter S. Lemmo, 1995 28 (early secondary)
Peoples and Places in World History Delos Frazee and Yopp, 1993 29 (early secondary)

Back to Top | World History Text Review


List of American History Texts

The folling is a list of the American History Texts that were used in our study. Click on the title to view the textbook's individual evaluation.

Title Publisher Author American History Ranking
History of the United States Houghton Mifflin DiBacco, Mason and Appy,1993 1 (late secondary)
The Americans: A History McDougal, Littell Jordan, Green Blatt and Bowes,1994 2 (late secondary)
The American People: A History from 1877 McDougal, Littell Ernest R. May and Winthrop D. Jordan,1989 3 (late secondary)
American Journey: The Quest for Liberty Since 1865 Prentice Hall Davidson,Lytle and Stoff,1992 4 (late secondary)
Enjoying American History Amsco Henry Abraham and Irwin Pfeffer, 1984 5 (early secondary)
A History of the United States Prentice Hall Daniel J. Boorstin and Brooks Mather Kelley, 1992 6 (late secondary)
A History of the United States since 1861 Prentice Hall Daniel J. Boorstin and Brooks Mather Kelley,1989 7 (late secondary)
The American Nation Holt, Rinehart and Winston Paul Boyer, 1995 8 (late secondary)
American Adventures: People Making History Scholastic Ira Peck and Steven Deyle, 1991 9 (early secondary)
America's Story Houghton Mifflin William Jay Jacobs, et al.,1994 10 (late secondary)
American Voices: A History of the United States Scott, Foresman Carol Berkin, et al., 1992 11 (late secondary)
America: The Glorious Republic Houghton Mifflin Henry F. Graff,1990 12 (late secondary)
Triumph of the American Nation Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Lewis P. Todd and Merle Curti,1986 13 (late secondary)
A History of the Republic: The United States from 1865 Prentice Hall James W. Davidson and Mark H. Lytle,1986 14 (late secondary)
The United States: A History of the Republic Prentice Hall James W. Davidson and Mark H. Lytle,1990 15 (late secondary)
The American Nation Prentice Hall James W. Davidson and John E. Batchelor,1994 16 (late secondary)
The United States and Its People Addison,Wesley David C. King, Norma McRae and Jaye Zola,1992 17 (late secondary)
Our Land, Our Time: A History of the United States Holt, Rinehart and Winston Joseph R. Conlin,1991 18 (late secondary)
American Odyssey: The United States in the Twentieth Century Glencoe/McGraw Hill Gary B. Nash, 1992 19 (late secondary)
The United States: Its Past, Purpose, and Promise Janus Diane Hart,1988 20 (early secondary)
American History Amsco Irving L. Gordon,1989 21 (early secondary)
The Story of America Holt, Rinehart, and Winston John A. Garraty,1991 22 (late secondary)
Our Nation's History American Guidance Service Wayne E. King and John Napp,1992 23 (early secondary)
America: Its People and Values Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Wood, Gabriel and Biller,1985 24 (late secondary)
Foundations in American History: From Reconstruction to the Present Globe Howard J. Schwach, 1987 25 (early secondary)
History of a Free Nation Glencoe/McGraw Hill Bragdon, McCutche, Ritchie,1992 26 (late secondary)
Exploring American History Globe John R. O'Connor,1991 27 (early secondary)
America: The People and the Dream Scott Foresman Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, 1994 28 (late secondary)
The Pursuit of Liberty: A History of the American People Wadsworth R. Jackson Wilson, et al.,1990 29 (late secondary)
A Proud Nation McDougal, Littell & Company Ernest R. May, 1989 30 (early secondary)
Two Centuries of Progress Glencoe/McGraw Hill Carlton L. Jackson and Vito Perrone,1991 31 (early secondary)
Challenge of Freedom (3rd edition) Glencoe/McGraw Hill Welty, Greenblatt, 1992 32 (late secondary)
Current Issues Close Up Foundation Walker, Thompson, Larbalestier, 1994 33 (late secondary)
Current Issues in American Democracy Amsco Antell, Harris, Dobkin, 1992 34 (late secondary)
The Drama of Democracy Dushkin George Mckenna, 1994 35 (late secondary)
American Spirit: A History of the American People Prentice Hall Clarence L. Ver Steeg, 1990 36 (early secondary)

Back to Top | American History Text Review


List of World Geography Texts

The folling is a list of the World Geography Texts that were used in our study. Click on the title to view the textbook's individual evaluation.

Title Publisher Author Geography Ranking
Global Geography Amsco Finkelstein, Flanagan, Luger, 1994 1 (late secondary)
World Geography Today Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Sager, Helgren and Isrel, 1995 2 (late secondary)
World Geography: People in Time and Place Silver Burdett Ginn Greenow, Ainsley, Elbow, 1993 3 (late secondary)
World Geography Prentice Hall Thomas J. Baerwald and Celeste Fraser, 1993 4 (late secondary)
To See a World Houghton Mifflin Armento et al., 1994 5 (late secondary)
World Geography: The Earth and Its People (Annotated ) Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Bacon, 1989 6 (late secondary)
Heath World Geography D. C. Heath Charles F. Gritzner, 1989 7 (late secondary)
World Geography Glencoe Richard G. Boehm and James L. Swanson, 1995 8 (late secondary)
World Geography McGraw Hill Gary Manson 9 (late secondary)
World Geography: People and Places Merril David G. Armstrong and Francis P. Hunkins, 1989 10 (late secondary)
World Geography Scholastic Robert A. Harper, Joseph R. Stoltman, 1989 11 (late secondary)
World Geography and You Steck-Vaughn Vivian Bernstien, 1993 12 (early secondary)

Back to Top | World Geography Text Review


List of World Culture Texts

The folling is a list of the World Culture Texts that were used in our study. Click on the title to view the textbook's individual evaluation.

Title Publisher Author World Culture Ranking
World Cultures: A Global Mosaic Prentice Hall Ahmad Iffikhar, et al., 1993 1 (late secondary)
Cultural Anthropology: Understanding Ourselves and Others Dushkin Richley H. Crapo, 1993 2 (advanced placement)
Eastern Hemisphere: People in Times and Places Silver Burdett Ginn Kenneth S. Cooper 3 (late secondary)
The Human Expression: World Regions and Cultures Glencoe Paul Thomas Welty and Miriam Greenblatt, 1992 4 (late secondary)
Global Studies II Barron's Erwin Rosenfeld and Harriet Geller, 1987 5 (late secondary)
Global Insights: People and Culture Glencoe Farah et al., 1994 6 (advanced placement)

Back to Top | World Culture Text Review