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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5,000-Year-Old Puzzle
by Claudia Logan, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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$21.99
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
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Alexi's Secret Mission
by Anita Deyneka
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All About Rockets and Space Flight
All About Books #50
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All About Undersea Exploration
All About Books #35
by Ruth Brindze, illustrated with more than 60 photographs
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Ancient Celts: Archaeology Unlocks the Secrets of the Celts' Past
National Geographic Investigates
by Jen Green
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Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greek Temple
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Animals Robert Scott Saw
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Ann And Liv Cross Antarctica
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Aquila's Drinking Gourd
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Armstrong
by Torben Kuhlmann, Translated by David Henry Wilson
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Assyrian Empire's Three Attempts to Rule the World
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Once Upon a Masterpiece
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Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
by Patricia Beatty
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Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers
by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula
from Golden Books
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Biggest (and best) Flag That Ever Flew
by Rebecca C. Jones, illustrated by Charles Geer
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Blockade Runners and Ironclads
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Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
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$23.79
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
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Boxes for Katje
by Candace Fleming
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Breaking Into Print
by Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Bonnie Christensen
from Little, Brown & Company
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$5.60 (1 in stock)
Brother Hugo and the Bear
by Katy Beebe
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$15.29
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
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$16.99
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
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Caleb's Choice
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California Gold Days
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1961 Printing from California State Department of Education
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Carrie's War
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Castles
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CD-ROM Fact Finders: Ancient Times
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Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Willy Pogany
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Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
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Choosing Brave
by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington
from Roaring Brook Press
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2023 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
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Christopher Columbus and His Brothers
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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Amazing Americans
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Cold War Correspondent
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Columbus: The Triumphant Failure
by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell
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Coming to America
by Betsy Maestro
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Conrad Elroy, Powder Monkey
by Alvin Robert Cunningham
from Perfection Learning
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Copper-Toed Boots
by Marguerite de Angeli
from Purple House Press
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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Cornstalks and Cannonballs
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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Corrie Ten Boom: Shining in the Darkness
Heroes for Young Readers
by Renee Meloche
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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Courage of Sarah Noble
by Alice Dalgliesh
from Atheneum
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Crossing
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Press
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D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
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$25.46
Daily Life in the Pilgrim Colony 1636
by Paul Erickson
from Clarion Books
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$8.50 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
by George Edward Stanley
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 4rd-6th grade
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Declaration of Independence
History of the World
by Don Nardo
for 3rd-6th grade
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DK Eye Wonder: Pyramid
by Caroline Bingham
from DK Publishing
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Civil War
from DK Publishing
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$8.49
DK Eyewitness: Viking
by Susan M. Margeson
Revised from DK Publishing
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Down Cut Shin Creek
by Kathi Appelt & Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer
from Purple House Press
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$16.96
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
1999 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Egypt in Spectacular Cross-Section
by Stewart Ross
for 2nd-5th grade
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Emperors and Gladiators
All in a Day's Work
by Anita Ganeri
from Peter Bedrick Books
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in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Enemies of Slavery
from Holiday House
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in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
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Epic Expeditions
by Bear Grylls
from Kane Miller
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Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Felicity's Surprise
American Girls Felicity #3
by Valerie Tripp
First Edition from Pleasant Company Publications, Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in American Girl (Location: SER-AMGIRL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.14
First Step
by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Flaming Arrows
by William O. Steele, Illustrated by Paul Galdone
1st edition from Harcourt
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Flight
by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Mike Wimmer
from Philomel Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Food and Recipes of Westward Expansion
Cooking Throughout American History
by George Erdosh
1st edition from PowerKids Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Friar and the Knight
by Flora Strousse, illustrated by William Wilson
from P.J. Kenedy & Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.80 (1 in stock)
From Colonies to Country with George Washington - Book Only
My American Journey
by Deborah Hedstrom
from Multnomah Books
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
From Slave Ship to Freedom Road
by Julius Lester
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 2nd-4th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome
by Marissa Moss
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Giant
by Judith McQuoid
from Little Island Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$15.29
Girl Who Drew Butterflies
by Joyce Sidman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.69
Going West
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Thomas Allen
from Dial Books for Young Readers
Historical fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Golden Book History of the United States - 12 Volume Set
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Alton S. Tobey and Richard P. Kluga
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$60.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Book of Space Exploration
by Dinah L. Moche
from Golden Books
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Good Queen Bess
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Gristmill
Historic Communities
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
Hands-On History Romans
by Fiona Macdonald
from QEB Publishing
for 2nd-5th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Hiding Place - A Graphic Novel
by Corrie Ten Boom, adapted by Mario DeMatteo, illustrated by Ismael Castro
from Chosen Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$21.24
Home Crafts (Historic Communities)
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
Hot Air
by Marjorie Priceman
from Atheneum
for Preschool-3rd grade
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning
by Rosalyn Schanzer
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
How I Became an American
by Karin Gundisch
from Cricket Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
How I Learned Geography
by Uri Shulevitz
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 2nd-5th grade
Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.69
How Our Nation Began
Christian Social History Series
by Don Sharkey, Sister Margaret, and Rt. Rev. Msgr. Philip J. Furlong
from W. H. Sadlier
for 2nd-4th grade
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
How Sweet the Sound
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$15.29
How To Be a Medieval Knight
by Fiona Macdonald, illustrated by Mark Bergin
from National Geographic
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
How to Be an Aztec Warrior
by Fiona MacDonald
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
I am Sacagawea
Ordinary People Change the World
by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
I, Tut
by Miriam Schlein, illustrated by Erik Hilgerdt
from Four Winds Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
If You Were There in 1492
by Barbara Brenner
1st ed from Bradbury Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Immigrants to America
History of America
by Linda Thompson
from Rourke Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
In Search of Troy
by Giovanni Caselli
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers
by Don Brown
from Clarion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$16.99
Incredible Journey to the Mummy's Tomb
by Nicholas Harris, illustrated by Nicki Palin
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Indiana Jones Explores Ancient Egypt
by John Malam
from Arcade Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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