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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Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1965 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Adam of the Road
Puffin Newbery Library
by Elizabeth Gray
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1943 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
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After the Dancing Days
by Margaret I. Rostkowski
from HarperTrophy
for 7th-9th grade
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After the War
by Carol Matas
from Simon Pulse
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Angel on the Square
by Gloria Whelan
from HarperCollins
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Art of Keeping Cool
by Janet Taylor Lisle
from Scholastic Inc.
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2001 Scott O'Dell Award
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Basher Five-Two
by Scott O'Grady & Michael French
from Yearling
Autobiography for 4th-8th grade
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Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark Series
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Betsy and the Emperor
by Staton Rabin
from Simon and Schuster
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Black Arrow
Dover Evergreen Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Dover Publications
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Black Ships Before Troy
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from Laurel-Leaf Books
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
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Blue Willow
Puffin Newbery Library
by Doris Gates
from Puffin Books
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1941 Newbery Honor Book
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Bonanza Girl
by Patricia Beatty
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
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Bound for Oregon
by Jean Van Leeuwen
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman
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Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
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Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
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Cathedral
by David Macaulay
Trumpet Club special ed from Trumpet Club
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Civil War Book of Facts
by Frank Burd
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Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers
from Scholastic Inc.
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Concise Illustrated History of the American Revolution
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Corrie Ten Boom
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Double Life of Pocahontas
by Jean Fritz
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Biography for 4th-8th grade
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$2.50 (2 in stock)
Dragonwings
Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1903
by Laurence Yep
from HarperCollins
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
1976 Newbery Honor Book
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Dragonwings
Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1903
by Laurence Yep
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
1976 Newbery Honor Book
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Earthquake at Dawn
by Kristiana Gregory
from Gulliver Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Escape From Warsaw
by Ian Serraillier, illustrated by Irwin Hoffman
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Esperanza Rising
by Pam Munoz Ryan
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Eyes of the Emperor
by Graham Salisbury
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Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
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Freedom Train
by Dorothy Sterling
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Biography for 4th-8th grade
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Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler
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Gladys Aylward
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
by Geoff & Janet Benge
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Good Night, Mr. Tom
by Michelle Magorian
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Goodbye, Vietnam
by Gloria Whelan
Bullseye Books ed from Knopf Paperback
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Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
Signet Classics
by Helen Keller
Reprint from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 7th-10th grade
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Heroes & Monsters Of Greek Myth
by Bernard Evslin, Dorthy Evslin, ned Hoopes
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Hidden
by Fanya Gottesfeld Heller with Joshua M. Greene
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Indian Captive
by Lois Lenski
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Historical Fiction for 4th-9th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
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Kidnapped Prince
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King George: What Was His Problem?
by Steve Sheinkin, illustrated by Tim Robinson
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Landing of the Pilgrims
Landmark Series
by James Daugherty
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Historical Non-Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Laura
by Donald Zochert
from Avon Books
for 7th grade-adult
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Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt
by C. Coco De Young
from Yearling
Historical fiction for 3rd-8th grade
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Martyr of the Catacombs
by Anonymous Christian
from Kregel Publications
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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No Promises in the Wind
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
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Old Yeller
by Fred Gipson
from HarperCollins
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
1957 Newbery Honor Book
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Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
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Parallel Journeys
by Eleanor Ayers, Helen Waterford, & Alfons Heck
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Non-Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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Perilous Road
by William O. Steele
from Harcourt
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Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver
by E. L. Konigsburg
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 7th-9th grade
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Quaker Cavalier
by Joyce Reason
1974 printing from Christian Literature Crusade
for 4th-8th grade
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Red Scarf Girl
by Ji-li Jiang
from HarperCollins
Autobiography for 7th-10th grade
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Rowland Bingham
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-7th grade
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Sarah Bishop
by Scott O'Dell
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-8th grade
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Second Mrs. Giaconda
by E. L. Konigsburg
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Realistic Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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Shakespeare's Spy
Shakespeare Stealer #3
by Gary Blackwood
from Puffin Books
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Single Shard
by Linda Sue Park
from Yearling
Realistic fiction for 5th-8th grade
2002 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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Single Shard
by Linda Sue Park
from Sandpiper Books
Realistic fiction for 5th-8th grade
2002 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Laurel-Leaf Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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So Far From the Bamboo Grove
by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
from Beech Tree Books
Historical fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Star Fisher
by Laurence Yep
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Story of King Arthur and His Knights
Signet Classics
by Howard Pyle
from Signet Classics
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 7th-9th grade
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Story of Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor
Scholastic Biographies
by Margaret Davidson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-7th grade
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$2.50 (2 in stock)
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)
Tales of the Greek Heroes
Puffin Classics
by Roger Green
from Puffin Books
Greek Mythology for 6th-9th grade
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Tales of the Greek Heroes
Puffin Classics
by Roger Green
from Puffin Books
Greek Mythology for 6th-9th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Ten Tales from Shakespeare
by Charles & Mary Lamb
from Dover Publications
Shakespeare Stories for 3rd-8th grade
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Thanksgiving Primer
from Plimoth Plantation Publication
for 4th-8th grade
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Time Traveller Book of Knights and Castles
from Usborne
for 4th-8th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
To Be a Pilgrim
by Joyce Reason
1980th edition from Christian Literature Crusade
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
To Be a Slave
Puffin Modern Classics
by Julius Lester, illustrated by Tom Feelings
from Puffin Books
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-10th grade
1969 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
Trial by Ice
by K. M. Kostyal
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Warriors Don't Cry
by Melba Pattillo Beals
from Simon Pulse
for 6th-12th grade
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Whipping Boy
by Sid Fleischman
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1987 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
Witch of Blackbird Pond
by Elizabeth George Speare
Reissue from Sandpiper Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1959 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation
Landmark Series
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)