Chronological History

Sometimes we speak of world history as though it belongs to people. It doesn't—it belongs to God, and though people play prominently within the historical narrative, it always remains under God's auspices and control. The problem with losing the right perspective isn't that we'll get the facts wrong, it's that we'll fail to understand what they mean, what the purpose of past events is, and what we can look forward to.

Human history began all at once in the same place: the Garden of Eden, where God made Adam and Eve as the crown of all Creation. He told them to fill the earth and take dominion of it, and He also told them not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They ate the fruit anyway, and mankind was removed from paradise and introduced to tension, pain, and resistance.

The story of the world is in many ways simply the story of adversity. For the enemies of God, it's adversity in the form of the failure and futility of purely human endeavor; for God's people, it's the story of fighting for the truth against secular philosophies, fighting for holiness despite the pervasiveness of sin, and fighting for the Gospel in the face of persecution and death.

Jesus Christ is our only hope. He is the Prince of Peace, the defeater of Death, and the King of the Universe, the saver of souls and the punisher of wickedness. His kingdom is the restoration and glorious fulfillment of the paradise from which Adam and Eve were removed, and we work, wait, hope and pray for the quick fulfillment of His will in all things.

This is our framework for history. While it's important to study things like the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and the ancient Near East, it's only important when investigated through the lens of God's ultimate sovereignty and plan. The story of mankind is the story of redemption, and only when we analyze battles, kings, treaties, and catastrophes from God's perspective can we truly make sense of them.

Otherwise, it's all fairly irrelevant and useless. Sure, there's Napoleon's dictum that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, but a quick survey of the past will show that each successive generation does repeat the sins of their fathers, and that without Christ's real physical life on Earth as a centering point, there's no real cause for optimism or hope of any kind.

Christ's love not only makes the trajectory of history cause for hope; it reveals the truly great moments of the past, events that to the secular eye seem insignificant or even pernicious. We're speaking of the progress of the true Church, of course, and of each soul that God calls and makes His own through the agency of His Holy Spirit. These are the milestones we look for and celebrate.

We carry a lot of world history products. Because it's the story of God's work in the world and our human responses, we believe it's important to know and understand. Not everything we carry is Christian; there are plenty of secular resources here. We encourage you to use whichever ones work best for your situation, but that you do so with a view to understanding the will and work of the One who made history in the first place.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

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139 Items found Print
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Abraham Lincoln's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
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Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
by G. Frederick Owen
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Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt
by Theodore Roosevelt
from National Geographic
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.99
Alfred the Great
by Asser
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Biography for 9th-Adult
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Amazing Grace
by Eric Metaxas
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And the Word Came With Power
by Joanne Shetler, Patricia Purvis
from Wycliffe Bible Translators
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Anne Bradstreet
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Anne Bradstreet
Christian Renegades Series
by Doug Wilson
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
from Scholastic Inc.
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Band of Brothers
by Stephen Ambrose, Foreword by Tom Hanks
25th anniversary from Simon and Schuster
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Betty Before X
by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renee Watson
from Square Fish Publishing
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$8.99
Beyond the Myth
by Polly Schoyer Brooks
from Sandpiper Books
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$6.50
Beyond the Sacred Page
Book of Books #2
by Jack Cavanaugh
from Zondervan
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Born to Run
by Christopher McDougall
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Modern Library Exploration
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Bridge to the Sun
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Bruchko
by Bruce Olson
from Charisma House
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Bruchko
by Bruce Olson
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Bruchko and the Motilone Miracle
by Bruce Olson
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Chance to Die
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Children of the Storm
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Churchill
by Paul Johnson
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Co. Aytch
by Sam Watkins
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David Livingstone
by C. Silvester Horne
from Christian Liberty Press
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Diary of a Napoleanic Foot Soldier
by Jakob Walter
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Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank
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Discoverers
by Daniel J. Boorstin
from Vintage Classics
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$22.00
Elizabeth I
by Jacob Abbott, updated for the present day reader by Knox Merkle
from Canon Press
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$12.00
Endurance
by Alfred Lansing
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Evidence Not Seen
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Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Franklin
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Faithful Spy
by John Hendrix
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First Voyage to America
by Christopher Columbus
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$9.95
For God and His People
by J. H. Merle D'Aubigne
from Bob Jones University Press
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$13.00
Four Voyages
by Christopher Columbus
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$17.00
Francis Schaeffer
by Bruce Little, ed.
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George Washington & the Founding of a Nation
by Albert Marrin
from Dutton Juvenile
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
George Whitefield
by Arnold A. Dallimore
from Crossway Books
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Glimpses of Truth
Book of Books #1
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God and Ronald Reagan
by Paul Kengor
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God's Samurai
by Gordon Prange, with Donald Goldstein & Katherine Dillon
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$21.95
God's Smuggler
by Brother Andrew
from Chosen Books
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$16.99
Governor of England
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
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Great Adventurers of the Twentieth Century
by Ron Tagliapietra
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Heavenly Man
by Brother Yun, Paul Hattaway
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Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
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Here I Stand
by Roland H. Bainton
from Meridian Book
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Hero Tales
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
from Cumberland House
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
History of King Charles II of England
by Jacob Abbott
from Serenity Publishers
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$10.99
Hitler
by Albert Marrin
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Idelette
by Edna Gerstner
from Soli Deo Gloria
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In Search of the Source
by Neil Anderson, Hyatt Moore
from Wycliffe Bible Translators
Missionary Biography for 9th-Adult
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$8.00 (3 in stock)
In the Days of Queen Victoria
by Eva March Tappan
from Bookshelf Central
for 6th-10th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Jacobs
from Dover Publications
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Jeanne Guyon
by Jeanne Guyon
1st Ed. from Whitaker House
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Joan of Arc
by Mark Twain
from Ignatius Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$18.95
John Knox: Stalwart Courage
by Douglas Wilson, foreword by George Grant
from Canon Press
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$15.95
Jonathan and Sarah
by Edna Gerstner
from Soli Deo Gloria
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$10.00 (2 in stock)
Jonathan Edwards
by Stephen J. Nichols
from P&R Publishing
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Journey and Ordeal of Cabeza de Vaca
Dover editions
by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
from Dover Publications
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$10.95
Jungle Pilot
by Russell Hitt
from Discovery House Publishers
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Katherine Parr
by Brandon G. Withrow
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Kitchen Boy
by Robert Alexander
Reprint from Penguin Press
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Kitty, My Rib
by E. Jane Mall
from Concordia Publishing House
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L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz
by Katharine M. Rogers
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Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography
by William Anderson
from HarperTrophy
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Legacy of John Calvin
The Calvin 500 Series
by David W. Hall
from P&R Publishing
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Life and Diary of David Brainerd
by David Brainerd
from Baker Books
Biography for 10th-Adult
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$17.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Life of General Stonewall Jackson
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
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Life of George Washington
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
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$11.75
Life of J.E.B. Stuart
by Mary Williamson
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$11.75
Life of Sir Thomas More
by William Roper
from CreateSpace
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$5.99
Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence
by Benson J. Lossing
3rd Printing from WallBuilder Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Luther by Those Who Knew Him
Reformation Trail Series #20
by Elizabeth R. Charles
from Inheritance Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Reformation Trail Series (Location: FIC-WH06)
$19.95
Marriage to a Difficult Man
by Elisabeth D. Dodds
from Audobon Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Martin Luther
by J. A. Morrison
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.50
Martin Luther
by J. A. Morrison
3rd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
Martin Luther: The Man and His Work
Reformation Trail Series #19
by Arthur C. McGiffert
from Inheritance Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Reformation Trail Series (Location: FIC-WH06)
$19.95
Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
by Art Spiegelman
from Pantheon Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Mein Kampf
by Adolf Hitler, translated by Michael Ford
from Elite Minds, Inc.
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$29.95
Memoirs of the Second World War
by Winston S. Churchill, abridged by Denis Kelly
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$25.99
Mornings on Horseback
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
National; Book Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$20.00
Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
by LeRoy R. Hafen & Harvey L. Carter
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$21.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee
by David Crockett
Reprint from Bison Books
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Naval War of 1812
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Random House
Historical Non-fiction for 10th-Adult
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$15.95
Never Give In
Leaders in Action Series
by Stephen Mansfield
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$19.99
New York to Nome
by Rick Steber, Photography by Sheldon Taylor
2007 Revised from Bonanza Publishing
for 8th-Adult
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Night
by Elie Wiesel
Revised from Hill & Wang
Autobiographies & Memoirs for 10th-Adult
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$12.00 $4.00 (11 in stock)
Not a Tame Lion
Leaders in Action Series
by Terry Glaspey
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$7.96
Ocean-Born Mary
by Lois Lenski
1st Edition Thus from Purple House Press
for 3rd-10th grade
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$17.99
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman Jr.
from Oxford University
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pierre Viret
by Jean-Marc Berthoud
1st edition
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$14.50
Pigtail and Chopsticks Man
by Jim Cromarty
2010 Printing from Evangelical Press
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Plutarch's Lives Volume I
by Plutarch, translated by John Dryden
from Modern Library
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$19.00
Pontius Pilate
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
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$8.50 (1 in stock)
Pontius Pilate
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
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in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Primeval Saints
by James Jordan
from Canon Press
Biography for 10th-Adult
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$14.00 $7.50 (2 in stock)
Prince and Heretic
Prince of Orange Nassau Volume 1
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
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$17.95
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