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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Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
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Arthur Erskine's Story
Reformation Trail Series #14
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
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Balloon Boy of San Francisco
by Dorothy Kupcha Leland
from Tomato Enterprises
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Battle of Seattle
by Douglas Bond
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Beautiful Thread
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$14.99
Betty Before X
by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renee Watson
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$8.99
Between the Forest and the Hills
Bethlehem Books Adventure Library
by Ann Lawrence
from Bethlehem Books
Humorous Fantasy for 7th-10th grade
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$9.50
Beyond the Desert Gate
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Mary Ray
2nd edition from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for
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Beyond the Sacred Page
Book of Books #2
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Book Thief
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
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Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Veritas Press
Historical fiction for 4th-9th grade
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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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$14.99
Brethren
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
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Bronze Bow
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
1962 Newbery Medal winner
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$9.99
By Far Euphrates
by Deborah Alcock
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Calico Captive
by Elizabeth George Speare
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Captain, My Captain
by Deborah Meroff
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
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Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
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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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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
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$10.99
Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
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
Cry From Egypt
by Hope Auer
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Czar, The
by Deborah Alcock
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Daisy Chain
by Charlotte Yonge
from Beautiful Feet Books
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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
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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
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
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$14.95
Doomed Queen Anne
A Young Royals Book
by Carolyn Meyer
from Harcourt
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Dragon and the Raven
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
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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
Drovers Road
Adventures in New Zealand #1
by Joyce West
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 7th-9th grade
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Duncan's War
Crown & Covenant Series #1
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
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Eagle of the Ninth
by Rosemary Sutcliff
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
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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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Endurance
by Alfred Lansing
from Tyndale House
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Escape
Huguenot Inheritance Series #1
by A. Van der Jagt
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
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$10.95
Fair Margaret
by H. Rider Haggard
from Great Light Publications
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$13.99
Faith and Freedom Trilogy
Faith and Freedom
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
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$33.97
False Coin, True Coin
by Lois Hoadley Dick
from Bob Jones University Press
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Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
from Houghton Mifflin
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Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
from Simon and Schuster
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$8.99
Fiddler's Gun
by A. S. Peterson
1st edition from Rabbit Room Press
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$16.99
Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
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$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
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$15.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Forgotten Daughter
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from American Home-School Publishing
for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Forgotten Daughter
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from Bethlehem Books
for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
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$14.95
Fortune of War
Aubrey/Maturin #6
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
Glimpses of Truth
Book of Books #1
by Jack Cavanaugh
from Zondervan
for 7th-Adult
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Going Solo
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 7th-9th grade
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Gold Rush Dogs
by Claire Rudolf Murphy, Jane G. Haigh
from Alaska Northwest Books
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Golden Age
by Kenneth Grahame
from Dover Publications
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Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!
by Laura Amy Schlitz
from Candlewick Press
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2008 Newbery Medal Winner
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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
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.99
Gytha's Message
Emma Leslie Church History Series
by Emma Leslie
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Hand of Vengeance
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$11.99
Hardest Thing to Do
Hawk and the Dove Series #4
by Penelope Wilcock
3rd Revised edition from Lion Publishing
for 9th-Adult
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
Hawk and the Dove Series
by Penelope Wilcock
from Lion Hudson
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hero of Spionkop
The Louis Wessels Commando #2
by Lawrence Penning
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.95
Horatio Hornblower Saga - Complete Collection
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$150.29
Hornblower and the Atropos
Hornblower Series #5
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower Series #3
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Hornblower During the Crisis
Hornblower Series #4
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Hostage Lands
by Doug Bond
from P&R Publishing
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.99 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Hour Before Dawn
Hawk and the Dove Series #5
by Penelope Wilcock
from Lion Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
How They Kept the Faith
Huguenot Inheritance Series #3
by Grace Raymond
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$19.90
Hubert Ellerdale
Reformation Trail Series #01
by W. Oak Rhind
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Reformation Trail Series (Location: FIC-WH06)
$12.95
I Must Betray You
by Ruta Sepetys
from Philomel Books
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.99
I Serve
by Rosanne E. Lortz
from Anno Domini
Historical Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
I Will Maintain
William and Mary Trilogy Volume 1
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)
Ides of April
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Mary Ray
from Bethlehem Books
for 8th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
If The South Had Won The Civil War
by MacKinlay Kantor
from Forge
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
In the Days of Queen Victoria
by Eva March Tappan
from Bookshelf Central
for 6th-10th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
In This Hour
by Rudolf Van Reest
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
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$15.95
Ivanhoe
by Sir Walter Scott
from Dover Publications
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95
Jar of Dreams
by Yoshiko Uchida
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Journey Through the Night
by Anne De Vries
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 8th-10th grade
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$29.95
Journeyman
by Elizabeth Yates
from Bob Jones University Press
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
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$6.99
Keeping Score
by Linda Sue Park
from Sandpiper Books
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$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
King's Arrow
Crown & Covenant Series #2
by Doug Bond & Matthew Bird
from P&R Publishing
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
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$14.99 $8.00 (2 in stock)
Kitchen Boy
by Robert Alexander
Reprint from Penguin Press
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Laddie
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Indiana University Press
Romance for 7th-10th grade
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$16.95
Lantern Bearers
by Rosemary Sutcliff
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1959 Carnegie Medal
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$10.99
Lark in the Morn
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Elfrida Vipont
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.95
Lark on the Wing
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Elfrida Vipont
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-9th grade
1950 Caarnegie Medal
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.95
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper
Reprint from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$13.00
Leofwine the Monk: Or, the Curse of the Ericsons
Emma Leslie Church History Series
by Emma Leslie
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Les Miserables
Modern Library
by Victor Hugo, translated by Julie Rose
from Modern Library
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$20.00
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