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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And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
by Jean Fritz & Margot Tomes
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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Ballad of Lucy Whipple
by Karen Cushman
from HarperCollins
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Betsy Ross: Designer of our Flag
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ann Weil
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Blast Back!: The Civil Rights Movement
by Nancy Ohlin, illustrated by Roger Simo
from Scholastic Inc.
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Blazing West: The Journal of Augustus Pelletier
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Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
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1936 Newbery Medal winner
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Civil War Paper Soldiers in Full Color
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
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Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers
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Concise Illustrated History of the American Revolution
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Cora Frear
by Susan E. Goodman
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Courage of Sarah Noble
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1955 Newbery Honor Book
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D. L. Moody: God's Salesman
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Days of Knights & Damsels
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Door in the Wall
by Marguerite de Angeli
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Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1950 Newbery Medal winner
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Drinking Gourd OSI
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by F. N. Monjo
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Extraordinary Life of Anne Frank
by Kate Scott, illustrated by Anke Rega
from Kane Miller
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Extraordinary Life of Katherine Johnson
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Extraordinary Life of Rosa Parks
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Fireflies in the Dark
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom
by Kathleen Kudlinski, illustrated by Meryl Henderson
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George Washington
Childhood of Famous Americans / History's All-Stars
by Augusta Stevenson
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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George Washington's Breakfast
by Jean Fritz
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Biography for 1st-4th grade
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Grandma Moses
Women of Our Time
by Zibby Oneal, illustrated by Donna Ruff
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Harry Houdini: Master of Magic
by Robert Kraske
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Horrible Histories: Vile Victorians
by Terry Deary, illustrated by Martin Brown
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In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
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Immigration for 2nd-6th grade
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In Their Own Words: Abraham Lincoln
In Their Own Words
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Biography for 3rd-4th grade
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Ivan and the Informer
by Myrna Grant
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Ivan and the Secret in the Suitcase
by Myrna Grant
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Josefina Story Quilt
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Eleanor Coerr
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Journey to America
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Kidnapped Prince
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Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt
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Lion to Guard Us
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Rocky Ridge Years Book 2
by Roger Lea MacBride
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Long Way to a New Land
An I Can Read Book Level 3
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Long Way Westward
An I Can Read Book Level 3
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Magic Tree House #03 - Research Guide
by Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca
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by Mary Pope Osborne
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Magic Tree House
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Magic Tree House Super Edition #01
by Mary Pope Osborne
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Matchlock Gun
by Walter Edmonds
from PaperStar Books
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
1942 Newbery Medal winner
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Medal of Honor: Jack Montgomery
by Michael P. Spradlin
from Scholastic Inc.
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Meet Christopher Columbus
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by James de Kay
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Meet George Washington
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by Joan Heilbroner
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Minstrel in the Tower
by Gloria Skurzynski
from Random House
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Molly's Pilgrim
A Bantam First Skylark
by Barbara Cohen, illustrated by Daniel Mark Duffy
from HarperTrophy
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Nightjohn
by Gary Paulsen
from Laurel-Leaf Books
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One Thousand Paper Cranes
by Takayuki Ishii
2001 Printing from Laurel-Leaf Books
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Pirate's Promise
by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Peter Burchard
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Pompeii
Step Into Reading Level 4
by Edith Kunhardt & Michael Eagle
from Random House
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Road to Agra
by Aimee Sommerfelt, illustrated by Ulf Aas
from Scholastic Book Services
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Rotten Romans
Horrible Histories
by Terry Deary
from Scholastic Press
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Sam the Minuteman
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Nathaniel Benchley & Arnold Lobel
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Sarah Morton's Day
by Kate Waters
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-fiction for Nursery-3rd grade
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Sarah, Plain and Tall
by Patricia MacLachlan
from Scholastic Inc.
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
1986 Newbery Medal winner
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Sarah, Plain and Tall
by Patricia MacLachlan
30th Anniversary from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
1986 Newbery Medal winner
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September 11
by Mary Englar
from Compass Point Books
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Serpent Never Sleeps
by Scott O'Dell
from Fawcett Books
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Shh! We're Writing the Constitution!
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Soft Rain
by Cornelia Cornelissen
from Yearling
Historical fiction for 3rd-5th grade
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Spotlight for Harry
by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Jim Madsen
PJ Library from The PJ Library
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Story of Daniel Boone, Wilderness Explorer
A Dell Yearling Biography
by Walter Retan
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Story of Harriet Tubman
Dell Yearling Biography
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Story of Sitting Bull, Great Sioux Chief
by Lisa Eisenberg
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Sword in the Tree
by Clyde Robert Bulla
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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Tales from Shakespeare
Puffin Classics
by Charles & Mary Lamb
from Puffin Books
Shakespeare Stories for 3rd-8th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Tall Tails
Tall Tails #02
by Dona Smith
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ten Tales from Shakespeare
by Charles & Mary Lamb
from Dover Publications
Shakespeare Stories for 3rd-8th grade
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Thomas Jefferson: Third President of the United States
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Helen Albee Monsell
1989 Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Three-Minute Speech
by Jennifer Armstrong, Illustrated by Albert Lorenz
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Trojan Horse
Step Into Reading Level 5
by Emily Little
from Random House
Greek Mythology for 2nd-4th grade
in Step into Reading (Location: EAR-STEP)
$5.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Trouble River
by Betsy Byars
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Turn Homeward, Hannalee
by Patricia Beatty
from Beech Tree Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $3.50 (1 in stock)
Tut's Mummy
Step Into Reading Level 4
by Judy Donnelly & James Watling
from Random House
Non-fiction for 1st-3rd grade
in Step into Reading (Location: EAR-STEP)
$5.99 $3.00 (3 in stock)
Understanding the U.S. Constitution
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Crabtree Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Wagon Wheels
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Barbara Brenner
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$5.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
What Was D-Day?
What Was?
by Patricia Demuth, illustrated by David Grayson Kenyon
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in WWII: European Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2E)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
What Was the March on Washington?
What Was?
by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Tim Tomkinson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Wright Brothers At Kitty Hawk
by Donald J. Sobol
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)