On Oct. 19, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved the eighth-grade Louisiana history textbook written by Terry Jones, a ULM professor of history and government.

“The Louisiana Journey” (Gibbs Smith, 2006) has been approved for adoption, allowing the state’s 66 different school systems to select it for their classrooms. Jones’ textbook received a 100 percent rating on meeting the state's Grade Level Expectations.

Jones completed The Louisiana Journey after two years of labor. The book contains numerous biographical sketches of historical figures; includes African American history, Louisiana history, geology, geography, archaeology, economics, and government; and is lavishly illustrated with photos, maps and charts. It is also current, with information on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

”It is a nice combination of presenting the essential facts with enough interesting trivia to hold a reader's attention,” Jones said.

This is the sixth book completed by Jones. The others include “Lee's Tigers: The Louisiana Infantry in the Army of Northern Virginia” (LSU, 2987, winner of the General L. Kemper Williams Prize as best book on Louisiana history, and a History Book Club selection); The Civil War Memoirs of Capt. William J. Seymour (LSU, 1991 and History Book club selection); “Campbell Brown's Civil War” (LSU, 2001); “Historical Dictionary of the Civil War” (Scarecrow Press, 2002); and “Cemetery Hill” (Da Capo Press, 2003).