At Milestone Documents, we believe that engaging with history’s original voices is exciting for students and liberating for instructors. Our flexible, affordable, entirely digital readers help you focus your classroom on primary sources. Sign up today and join the growing roster of college instructors who are shifting their approach from the textbook to the source with fantastic results.
"I don't intend to ever assign a textbook again as long as Milestone Documents is available."
College Instructors: Select a reader to get started.
Students: Click below to register for your course.
Primary Source Readers
At Milestone Documents, we believe that engaging with history’s original voices is exciting for students and liberating for instructors. Our flexible, affordable, entirely digital readers help you focus your classroom on primary sources. Sign up today and join the growing roster of college instructors who are shifting their approach from the textbook to the source with fantastic results.
U.S. History I to 1877: The Milestone Reader in American History
U.S. History II 1865 - present: The Milestone Reader in American History
World History I to 1500: The Milestone Reader in World History
World History II 1500 - present: The Milestone Reader in World History
Western Civilization I to 1500: The Milestone Reader in Western Civilization
Western Civilization II 1500 - present: The Milestone Reader in Western Civilization
African American History
Ancient Near East
Middle East
Modern Latin America
American Studies
World Religions
History of Japan
Modern Chinese History
Build Your Own
"I don't intend to ever assign a textbook again as long as Milestone Documents is available."
An Innovative Alternative
If you are tired of traditional publishing, we provide something different. At Milestone Documents, we've created an innovative alternative for today's digital classroom.
Flexible and Low Cost
In an economy of sharing and renting we provide a short-term, low-cost rental service to offer the flexible content you need, when you it, for $19.95/semester.
Always on the Go
Meeting your students where they are. Our content can be delivered through an eBook, website, or LMS. Always available on the go. Unlike textbooks, the content is specifically designed to be approachable and easily interpreted by students.
Select one of our standard document readers and customize it!
Build your own from scratch by browsing our collection of sources and textbook articles!
Quality Content in Bite-Sized Pieces
Beyond selecting the documents, our customers collaborate to find well-written academic textbook articles, document analysis, and quizzes by experts in the field. We work with college faculty around the country to provide important document analysis to help students create historical connnections in and out of the classroom.
No More Waiting Several Weeks for ISBNs
Without the need to print books for shipping, there is no reason to wait for weeks to receive the finished version of your reading list and final ISBN.
Select Any Document from Our Vast Library
No matter what the course, you can select any document from our vast library and organize them in any order you need to. Our à la carte library style allows you to select exactly what you want in your reader without making compromises on size, price, or theme.
It's Time for a Change
Jonathan's Story:
Jonathan thrives on change and redesigns his U.S. History survey course every semester. The content never stays the same, but the focus is always on primary sources. Sometimes he uses a textbook, sometimes it's all primary sources. Either way, his reader adapts to his ever-changing classroom.
Jonathan Rees | Colorado State University--Pueblo
Keeping Classroom Content Fresh
Our solution: The expansive database with optional chapters
Re-evaluate readings semester by semester
Vanessa's Story:
A “novel” approach to the Humanities course. While planning for her course, Vanessa decided to center the course around primary source documents, memoirs, and classic literature. She designed a reader combining OER materials and Milestone primary sources
Vanessa Arnaud | Sacramento State University
A "novel" approach to the Humanities course
Our solution: The “Outside Reading” Feature
Ability include OER classic novels and memoirs with her readings
Ability to customize and annotate readings
Erin's Story:
Erin uses Milestone Documents to create a customized primary source reader with textbook selection for her U.S. survey course and her African American history course. It’s a large collection, but it saves her time and makes course planning easier.
Erin Conlin | Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Two Courses in One Custom Reader
Our Solution: Combining readings and textbook articles
Ability to read offline and print off documents before class
Ability to annotate and highlight documents and share notes with students
Ability to change up readings without starting a whole new custom project
Bill's Story:
With a focus on critical thinking and thoughtful examination of key themes through the use of primary sources, Bill is building a thematic course from scratch and needs to alter it as he goes. The students pick the themes, and Bill picks the content from the Milestone database.
Bill McCoy | Eastern Nazarene College
The Spontaneous Classroom
Our Solution: The Milestone service + VitalSource e-book
Ability to select readings on the fly based on the themes the students selected
Uses the Milestone treatment to help students dig in further to a specific document vs. doing a sweep through several documents a day.
Students search our collection for related documents to explore.
Patricia's Story:
After years of teaching World History the traditional way--with a textbook at the center of the course--Patricia Pelley began experimenting with Milestone Documents. She has discovered that students learn about the past more effectively when they focus on primary sources rather than the overly fragmented narratives of textbooks. Her classroom lectures provide the relevant context and introduce concepts that are critical to particular periods and specific settings.
Patricia Pelley | Texas Tech University
Collaborative Learning
Our Solution: Enabling collaboration and analysis
Students select and present a single document to the class
Students also write in-depth analyses of additional sources from our collection
Brad's Story:
Big lecture sections with personal touches. Teaching two hundred students in a large lecture hall may not be the first thing you think of when teaching with primary sources, but Brad uses Milestone Documents to not only add interest to his lectures but also to personalize the course for his U.S. History students.
Brad Cartwright | University of Texas at El Paso
A Combination of Group and Individual Work
Our solution: Sources with academic commentary provide support
Our document commentary helps students learn to model the skills of a historian
Our flexible system enables a combination of small group workshops and individual essays
