rom the first inhabitants of North America through the end of the American War of Independence in 1783, The Story of the Thirteen Colonies retells as an engaging narrative the history of the discovery, exploration, and settlement of North America, the founding and growth of thirteen English colonies along the Atlantic seaboard, the Colonial Wars between the French, English, and Indians; and the causes, events, and conclusion of the American War of Independence. In 84 lessons and 242 pages, we meet the Native Americans; the daring Spanish and French conquistadors, explorers, and missionaries; Dutch colonizers; English Separatists, Puritans, and settlers; and our courageous American heroes and statesmen. We meet the brave and the wise; the foolish and the proud: Christopher Columbus, Sir Francis Drake, Father Hennepin, Captain John Smith, William Bradford, Cotton Mather, William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Benedict Arnold, to name just a few.

In her preface, Miss Guerber writes, “The aim has been not only to interest children in the great men of their own country, but to stimulate them to the cultivation of the lofty virtues of which they read, and to instill within their hearts a deep love for their native land. All the main facts in our early history have been given as simply and vividly as possible, and the lessons of patriotism, truthfulness, courage, patience, honesty, and industry taught by the lives of our principal heroes are carefully enforced. Great pains have also been taken to relate all the well-known anecdotes and quote the famous speeches which are so frequently alluded to in our current literature.”

Like the other histories by H. A. Guerber that Nothing New Press has republished, The Story of the Thirteen Colonies includes additional maps, a comprehensive timeline of events and people encountered in the story, as an aid for testing retention, memory work, and to help children in constructing their own history timelines. The Bibliography lists the references used to construct the timeline, as well as the historical information included in the Publisher’s Preface. The Recommended Reading list which follows the timeline coordinates the corresponding chapters in Thirteen Colonies with wonderful “living books”: non-fiction, biographies, literature, and historical fiction.

Please visit the pages at right for more detailed information about The Story of the Thirteen Colonies by H. A. Guerber. There you may view 2-page spreads, read the publisher’s and author’s prefaces, browse the table of contents, and read several chapters from the book.

New Price as of January 2, 2005!

We have experienced several price increases in our printing costs since first releasing The Story of the Thirteen Colonies, but we have not charged more for our books. However, we must now change the price of The Story of the Thirteen Colonies to more accurately reflect what we pay to have them printed. We have sold Thirteen Colonies at the same rate as The Story of the Greeks and The Story of the Romans since its introduction, even though it contains about 50 pages more. From January 2, 2005, we will adjust its price to $23.95 each.

Recommended Reading Keyed to the Chapters!

The Story of the Thirteen Colonies comes with a Recommended Reading supplement keyed to the chapters of the history. The Recommended Reading supplement lists additional books: non-fiction, biography, historical fiction, literature, and poetry, which enrich and elaborate on the topics introduced or discussed in the chapters. Usually these resources are readily available at the local library or through inter-library loan, or commonly available in homeschool catalogs.

When children are learning about the English explorers in Chapter XXI: Around the World, they can also read the interesting narrative history The Sea King: Sir Francis Drake and His Times by award-winning children’s historian Albert Marrin, at the proper place in the history. When children are studying the arrival of the Pilgrims beginning in Chapter XXVIII: The Mayflower, they can also recreate the recipes of the first Thanksgiving with Lucile Recht Penner’s fascinating Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim Book of Food and Manners. When children are studying the beginning of the American Revolution in Chapter LVII: How England Treated Her Colonies, they can also read the exciting tale of historical fiction which won the Newbery award, Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, at the proper place in the history.

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Read chapter XII:
Home Again

Read chapter XXXIII:
Stories of Two Ministers

Read chapter LXXI:
The Winter at Valley Forge

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of the Thirteen Colonies

f you have purchased The Story of the Thirteen Colonies, please send us any comments, suggestions, or questions you may have. We gratefully and humbly welcome your feedback as we strive to improve future editions of this book. Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you feel.