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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290 Items found Print
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Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1965 Newbery Honor Book
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Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1965 Newbery Honor Book
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Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Puffin Classics
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Sterling Classics
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Puffin Classics
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
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All He Knew
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Anna and the King of Siam
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Anna of Byzantium
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by Frances Hodgson Burnett, edited by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
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Ark, The
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Arthur Erskine's Story
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by Dorothy Kupcha Leland
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Bethlehem Books Adventure Library
by Ann Lawrence
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Beware, Princess Elizabeth
A Young Royals Book
by Carolyn Meyer
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Beyond the Desert Gate
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Mary Ray
2nd edition from Bethlehem Books
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Black Arrow
Dover Evergreen Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
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by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
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Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
by Richard Halliburton
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Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
from Living Book Press
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Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
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Borrowed House
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Hilda Van Stockum
from Purple House Press
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Veritas Press
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by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
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Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
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Breath of Peace
Hawk and the Dove Series #7
by Penelope Wilcock
from Lion Publishing
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Brethren
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
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Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
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1962 Newbery Medal winner
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Burning of Rome
by Alfred J. Church
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by Deborah Alcock
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by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
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By Right of Conquest - MP3 CD
by Jim Hodges
from Jim Hodges Productions
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by G. A. Henty
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Calico Captive
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
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Captain Blood
Penguin Classics
by Rafael Sabatini
from Penguin Classics
Historical Romance for 7th-Adult
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Captain, My Captain
by Deborah Meroff
from Inheritance Publications
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
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$9.99
Catherine, Called Birdy
by Karen Cushman
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
1995 Newbery Honor Book
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Catherine, Called Birdy
by Karen Cushman
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
1995 Newbery Honor Book
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$7.99
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 9th-12th grade
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Penguin Classics
by Mark Twain
from Penguin Classics
Social Satire/Comedy for 8th-10th grade
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$10.00
Coronation of Glory
Reformation Trail Series #12
by Deborah Meroff
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 8th-10th grade
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$17.95
Czar, The
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
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Daisy Chain
by Charlotte Yonge
from Beautiful Feet Books
Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
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Dark Year of Dundee
Reformation Trail Series #06
by Deborah Alcock
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Day and a Life
Hawk and the Dove Series #9
by Penelope Wilcock
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Day of Pleasure
by Isaac Bashevis Singer
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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$10.99
Defender of the Faith
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 2
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
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Doctor Adrian
Reformation Trail Series #13
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
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$15.95
Done and Dared in Old France
Huguenot Inheritance Series #7
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
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$14.95
Doomed Queen Anne
A Young Royals Book
by Carolyn Meyer
from Harcourt
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$11.99
Driven into Exile
Huguenot Inheritance Series #5
by Charlotte Maria Tucker
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
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$9.95
Duncan's War
Crown & Covenant Series #1
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
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$16.99
Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
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$10.99
Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
$20.00
Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #5
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Gail Owens
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 6th-9th grade
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$12.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Endurance
by Alfred Lansing
from Tyndale House
for 9th-Adult
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$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Escape
Huguenot Inheritance Series #1
by A. Van der Jagt
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$10.95
Fair Margaret
by H. Rider Haggard
from Great Light Publications
for 8th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.99
False Coin, True Coin
by Lois Hoadley Dick
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-11th grade
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$10.99
Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-9th grade
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$8.99
Fiddler's Gun
by A. S. Peterson
1st edition from Rabbit Room Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Flight into Spring
by Bianca Bradbury
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.50
For God and the King
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 3
by Marjorie Bowen
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$15.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
For the Temple - MP3 CD
by Jim Hodges
from Jim Hodges Productions
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Henty Audio Books (Location: CD-Henty)
$14.00
Forgotten Daughter
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from Bethlehem Books
for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman
by Gladys Aylward
from Moody Press
for 7th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Gods and Generals
by Jeff Shaara
from Ballantine Books
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Going Solo
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 7th-9th grade
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Golden Age
by Kenneth Grahame
from Dover Publications
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$8.95
Golden Age
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from SeaWolf Press
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$7.95
Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Romance for 9th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$20.99
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
by Laura Amy Schlitz
from Candlewick Press
for 5th-9th grade
2008 Newbery Medal Winner
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$12.99
Good Night, Mr. Tom
by Michelle Magorian
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Great Adventurers of the Twentieth Century
by Ron Tagliapietra
from Bob Jones University Press
Biography Anthologies for 8th-Adult
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$12.95
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer
from Sun Dial Press
for 9th-Adult
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$17.00
Gunner's Run
by Rick Barry
from Bob Jones University Press
for 7th-9th grade
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$6.99
Guns of Thunder
Faith and Freedom Trilogy #1
by Doug Bond
from P&R Publishing
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
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$14.99
Hand of Vengeance
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
for 6th-9th grade
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$11.99
Hardest Thing to Do
Hawk and the Dove Series #4
by Penelope Wilcock
3rd Revised edition from Lion Publishing
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in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
Hawk and the Dove
Hawk and the Dove Series #1
by Penelope Wilcock
3rd Revised edition from Lion Publishing
for 6th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
He Went with Hannibal
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 6th-9th grade
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$13.59
Hereward the Wake
by Charles Kingsley
from Living Book Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14
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