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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187 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
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$21.95
Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
by G. Frederick Owen
from Tyndale House
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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
Reprint from Puffin Books
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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Alfred the Great
by Asser
from Penguin Classics
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in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
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Amazing Grace
by Eric Metaxas
from HarperOne
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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
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Anne Bradstreet
by Faith Cook
from Evangelical Press
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
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Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
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Autobiography of Josiah Henson
by Josiah Henson
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Band of Brothers
by Stephen Ambrose, Foreword by Tom Hanks
25th anniversary from Simon and Schuster
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$18.99
Betrayal
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
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Betty Before X
by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renee Watson
from Square Fish Publishing
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Beyond the Myth
by Polly Schoyer Brooks
from Sandpiper Books
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Beyond the Sacred Page
Book of Books #2
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Born to Run
by Christopher McDougall
from Vintage Books
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Boys in the Boat
by Daniel James Brown
Reprint from Penguin Putnam
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Brendan Voyage
Modern Library Exploration
by Tim Severin
from Modern Library
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$19.00
Bridge to the Sun
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Bruchko
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Bruchko
by Bruce Olson
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Bruchko and the Motilone Miracle
by Bruce Olson
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Bulletproof George Washington
by David Barton
2nd edition from WallBuilder Press
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Bulletproof George Washington
by David Barton
3rd edition from WallBuilder Press
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Chance to Die
by Elisabeth Elliot
from Revell Publishing
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Children of the Storm
by Natasha Vins
from Bob Jones University Press
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$8.99
Christopher Columbus
by John Abbott
from A Beka Books
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Churchill
by Paul Johnson
Reprint from Penguin Putnam
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$17.00
Co. Aytch
by Sam Watkins
from Touchstone
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Coronation of Glory
Reformation Trail Series #12
by Deborah Meroff
from Inheritance Publications
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David Livingstone
by C. Silvester Horne
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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
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$12.00
Endurance
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Evidence Not Seen
by Darlene Deibler Rose
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Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Franklin
by David R. Logsdon
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Fabulous Opal Whiteley
by Elbert Bede
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Faithful Spy
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Falcons of France
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First Voyage to America
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$9.95
Flyboys
by James Bradley
2nd edition from Back Bay Books
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For God and His People
by J. H. Merle D'Aubigne
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Forgotten Spurgeon
by Iain H. Murray
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Four Voyages
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Francis Asbury
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Francis Schaeffer
by Bruce Little, ed.
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George B. McClellan
by Michael McHugh
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
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$10.00
George Washington & the Founding of a Nation
by Albert Marrin
from Dutton Juvenile
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George Washington's Sacred Fire
by Peter A. Lillback
1st edition from Providence Forum Press
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George Whitefield
by Arnold A. Dallimore
from Crossway Books
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Glimpses of Truth
Book of Books #1
by Jack Cavanaugh
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
God and Ronald Reagan
by Paul Kengor
Reprint from Harper Perennial
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God's Mountain Man
by Esther Vogt
from Gospel Publishing
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God's Samurai
by Gordon Prange, with Donald Goldstein & Katherine Dillon
from Potomoc Books
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$21.95
God's Smuggler
by Brother Andrew
from Chosen Books
Biography for 7th-Adult
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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
from Bob Jones University Press
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Heavenly Man
by Brother Yun, Paul Hattaway
from Monarch Books
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Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
from Dover Publications
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Here I Stand
by Roland H. Bainton
from Meridian Book
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Here I Stand
by Roland H. Bainton
from Abingdon Press
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Hero Tales
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
from Cumberland House
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hero Tales from American History
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
Paperback, First Printing from Tolle Lege Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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Hey, Mac!
by William F. McMurdie
from American Home-School Publishing
Biography for 8th-12th grade
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Hiding Place
by Corrie Ten Boom
35th Anniversary Edition from Chosen Books
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$15.99
History of King Charles II of England
by Jacob Abbott
from Serenity Publishers
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Hitler
by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
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Idelette
by Edna Gerstner
from Soli Deo Gloria
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
In the Days of Queen Victoria
by Eva March Tappan
from Bookshelf Central
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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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Joan of Arc
by Mark Twain
from Ignatius Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$18.95
John Knox: Stalwart Courage
by Douglas Wilson, foreword by George Grant
from Canon Press
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Jonathan and Sarah
by Edna Gerstner
from Soli Deo Gloria
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Jonathan Edwards
by Stephen J. Nichols
from P&R Publishing
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$16.99
Journey and Ordeal of Cabeza de Vaca
Dover editions
by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
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$10.95
Jungle Pilot
by Russell Hitt
Updated from Discovery House Publishers
Biography for 10th-Adult
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Jungle Pilot
by Russell Hitt
from Discovery House Publishers
Biography for 10th-Adult
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$16.99
Katherine Parr
by Brandon G. Withrow
from P&R Publishing
Biography for 10th-Adult
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Kit Carson's Autobiography
by Kit Carson
from University of Nebraska
Autobiography for 9th-12th grade
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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
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$14.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz
by Katharine M. Rogers
from Da Capo Press
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Land of the Morning
by Jean McAnlis McMurdie
from American Home-School Publishing
Biography for 10th-Adult
in WWII: Pacific Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2P)
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography
by William Anderson
from HarperTrophy
for 4th-10th grade
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$9.99
Legacy of John Calvin
The Calvin 500 Series
by David W. Hall
from P&R Publishing
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Life & Legacy of Saint Patrick
by Michael McHugh
from Great Light Publications
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Life and Death of Crazy Horse
by Russell Freedman
from Scholastic Inc.
for 7th-10th grade
1997 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
Life and Diary of David Brainerd
by David Brainerd
from Baker Books
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Life of General Stonewall Jackson
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$11.75 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Life of George Washington
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
Life of J.E.B. Stuart
by Mary Williamson
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
Life of Martyn Lloyd-Jones: 1899-1981
by Iain H. Murray
from Banner of Truth Trust
for 10th-Adult
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Life of Sir Thomas More
by William Roper
from CreateSpace
for 9th-Adult
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$5.99
Lives of Famous Romans
by Olivia Coolidge
from American Home-School Publishing
Roman History for 7th-12th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
12