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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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
from Graphia
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Alexander the Great
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
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And the Word Came With Power
by Joanne Shetler, Patricia Purvis
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Anne Frank's Story
by Carol Ann Lee
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Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
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Benazir Bhutto
by Englar, Mary
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Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
by William Thayer
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Black Heroes of the American Revolution
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Boy's War
by David Michell
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Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
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2000 Newbery Medal winner
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Christopher Columbus
Sowers Series
by Bennie Rhodes
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Cleopatra
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
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Biography for 5th-9th grade
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D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths - Audio CD
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
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Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
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Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
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Davy Crockett, Young Pioneer
by Laurence Santrey
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Did It Take Creativity to Find Relativity, Albert Einstein?
by Gilda Berger, Melvin & Gilda Berger, Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
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Douglas Macarthur: American Hero
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Duke Ellington
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Eric the Red & Leif the Lucky
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Explorers News
The History News
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Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Dreher
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Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Sansevere-Dreher, Illustrated by Ed Renfro
from Starscape
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Father to Nobody's Children
by David E. Fessenden
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Fine Print
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Florence Nightingale
Sowers Series
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For God and Country
by John Riddle
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Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
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Francis Scott Key
Sowers Series
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Galileo for Kids
by Richard Panchyk
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George Washington
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
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George Washington
by James Giblin & Michael Dooling
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George Washington
Sterling Point Books
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Gold Cadillac
by Mildred D. Taylor
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Gold Cadillac
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Harriet Tubman
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Heart Strangely Warmed
by Louise A. Vernon
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History of US Book 7
History of US Book 7
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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$15.95 $11.00 (2 in stock)
Ice Bound
by Jerri Nielsen, Mary Anne Vollers
from Hyperion/Madison Press
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If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern
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Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King
by Ellen Levine
Updated from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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In Their Own Words: Christopher Columbus
by Peter & Connie Roop
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J. Pierpont Morgan
by Michael Burgan
1st edition from Compass Point Books
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Jed Smith
by Frank Latham
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Jesse Jackson
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Joan of Arc
DK Biographies
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John Paul Jones
Sterling Point Books
by Armstrong Sperry
from Sterling Publishing Co.
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Juan Ponce de Leon
by Louise Chipley Slavicek
1st edition from Chelsea House Publishing
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Juliette Low, Girl Scout Founder
by Helen Boyd Higgins
from Patria Press, Inc.
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Kid's Guide to African American History
by Nancy I. Sanders
from Chicago Review Press
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Leonardo da Vinci
by Norman V. Marshall
from Silver Burdett Press
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Life of Washington
by Josephine Pollard
from Beautiful Feet Books
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Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
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1988 Newbery Medal winner
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Listening to Crickets
by Candice F. Ransom
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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Louis Braille
by Margaret Davidson
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
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Louis Braille
by Margaret Davidson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
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Luther the Leader
by Virgil Robinson
from A. B. Publishing, Inc.
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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March (Book One)
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
from Top Shelf Productions
for 5th-9th grade
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
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March (Book Two)
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
from Top Shelf Productions
for 5th-9th grade
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
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March - Boxed Set
by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin
from Top Shelf Productions
for 5th-9th grade
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo: Voyager to the Orient
by Carol Greene
from Houghton Mifflin
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Marie Curie's Search for Radium
by Beverley Birch
from Barron's
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Martyn Lloyd-Jones: From Wales to Westminster
by Christopher Catherwood
from Christian Focus Publications
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Mary Slessor
Women of Faith
by Basil Miller
from Bethany House
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Michael Faraday
by Charles Ludwig
from Herald Press
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Michelangelo
by Ernest Raboff
from HarperTrophy
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Michelangelo
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
Picture Book Biographies for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mystery On Everest
by George Mallory
from National Geographic
for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
Naya Nuki
by Kenneth Thomasma
from Baker Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Outrageous Women of the American Frontier
Outrageous Women
1st edition from Jossey-Bass
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Pasteur's Fight Against Microbes
by Beverly Birch
from Barron's
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Piece of the Mountain
by Joyce McPherson
from Greenleaf Press
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$8.00 (3 in stock)
Portraits of African-American Heroes
by Tonya Bolden
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
River of Grace
by Joyce McPherson
2nd edition from Greenleaf Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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$12.95 $7.00 (2 in stock)
Sacajawea
by Joseph Bruchac
from Graphia
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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Salt in His Blood
by William Rang
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Secret Soldier
by Ann McGovern
1st Edition Trade Paperback from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Seneca Chief, Army General
Creative Minds Biographies
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, illustrated by Karen Ritz
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Separate Battle
Young Readers' History of the Civil War
by Ina Chang
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Separate Battle
Young Readers' History of the Civil War
by Ina Chang
from Scholastic Reference
for 5th-8th grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Shipwrecked!
by Rhoda Blumberg
from HarperCollins
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Japan (Location: HISMC-JAP)
$8.99 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Simon Bolivar
by Frank De Varona
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (4 in stock)
Stonewall Jackson
Famous Figures of the Civil War Era
by Martha S. Hewson
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee Latham
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (3 in stock)
Story of Eli Whitney
by Jean Lee Latham
Second Edition from Avyx, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Teresa of Calcutta
Sowers Series
by D. Jeanene Watson, illustrated by Robert E. Lawson
from Mott Media
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Thomas Jefferson
by Cheryl Harness
Reprint from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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Thunderstorm in Church
by Louise Vernon
from Herald Press
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Tinker's Daughter
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Trial and Triumph
by Richard Hannula
from Canon Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$21.99 $14.00 (1 in stock)
Triumph on Everest
by Broughton Coburn
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Tutankhamun
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$6.95 $3.50 (2 in stock)
Walking the Road to Freedom
by Jeri Ferris
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
We'll Race You, Henry
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Westward With Columbus
by John Dyson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
What Really Happened in Ancient Times
by Terri Johnson, editor, illustrated by Darla Dixon
from Knowledge Quest
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
What Really Happened in Ancient Times
by Terri Johnson, editor
Revised from Knowledge Quest
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
What Really Happened In Colonial Times
by Terri Johnson, editor
from Knowledge Quest
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
What Really Happened In Colonial Times
by Terri Johnson, editor
Revised from Knowledge Quest
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
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