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.

Did you find this review helpful?
1,022 Items found Print
Active Filters: Hardcover, In-Stock Books & Materials
1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace
from National Geographic
for 4th-6th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$5.60 (2 in stock)
1776
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History
by Jay Winik
from Simon and Schuster
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
5,000-Year-Old Puzzle
by Claudia Logan, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$21.99
500 Nations
by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$16.99
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln in Peace and War
by Earl Schenck Miers
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Age of Voltaire
Story of Civilization IX
by Will & Ariel Durant
from Simon and Schuster
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Air Forces of the World
by Sue Butterworth, editor
from Chartwell Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$14.40 (1 in stock)
Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$13.59 $8.95 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great, Killer of Men
by David J. Lonsdale
from Carroll & Graf Publishers
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Alexi's Secret Mission
by Anita Deyneka
from School of Tomorrow
for 1st-4th grade
in Clearance: Fiction (Location: ZCLE-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Alice
by Stacey A. Cordery
from Viking Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
All About Rockets and Space Flight
All About Books #50
by Harold Goodwin
from Random House
for 3rd-8th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
All About Satellites and Space Ships
All About Books #28
by David Dietz
Revised edition from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
All About Undersea Exploration
All About Books #35
by Ruth Brindze, illustrated with more than 60 photographs
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
All Shook Up
Pivotal Moments in American History
by Glenn C. Altschuler
from Oxford University
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
All Thirteen
by Christina Soontornvat
from Candlewick Press
Daring Rescues for 4th-7th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book, 2021 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in 21st Century (Location: HISW-21)
$24.99
Amazing Mr. Doolittle
by Quentin Reynolds
from Appleton-Century-Crofts
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Amber and Clay
from Candlewick Press
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$22.99
America in the 1900s and 1910s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
from Facts On File
for 5th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1930s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
from Facts On File
for 5th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1950s
Decades of American History
by Charles A. Wills
from Facts On File
for 5th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1960s
Decades of American History
by Jim Callan
from Facts On File
for 5th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America in the 1970s
from Facts On File
for 5th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$7.20 (2 in stock)
America in the 1990s
by George Ochoa
from Facts On File
for 5th-8th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$36.00 (1 in stock)
America the Beautiful/ A Man of Destiny
by the editors of Country Beautiful Magazine
from Country Beautiful
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
America's Heroes
from SP, L.L.C.
for 6th-Adult
in War on Terror (Location: HISA-21WT)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
American Barns and Covered Bridges
by Eric Sloane
1st edition from Wilfred Funk, Inc.
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Children Through Their Books
by Sister Monica Kiefer
1970 printing from University of Pennsylvania Press
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the American Revolution
by Bruce Lancaster
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Plague
by Jim Murphy
from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
2004 Newbery Honor Book, 2004 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, NCTE Orbi Pictus Award
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$17.59
American Story: The Revolutionaries
Time-Life: The American Story
from Time-Life Books
for Adult
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
American Yesterday
by Eric Sloane
15th Printing from Funk & Wagnalls
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth
by M. K. Gandhi
from Navajivan Publishing House
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
An Introduction to Medieval Ivory Carvings
by Paul Williamson
from Her Majesty's Stationery Office
for 6th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Celts: Archaeology Unlocks the Secrets of the Celts' Past
National Geographic Investigates
by Jen Green
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Egypt
by Karen Sullivan
First Edition from Brockhampton Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Egypt Revealed
by Ben Morgan, Peter Chrisp, Sue Davidson
1st edition from DK Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Ancient Greece
for 2nd-4th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greek Temple
by John Malam, Mark Bergin
for 3rd-7th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Rome
Discoveries Series
by Dr. Paul C. Roberts
from Barnes & Noble
for 4th-9th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Andersonville
by MacKinlay Kantor
from World Publishing Company
for 9th-Adult
1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Animals Robert Scott Saw
by Sandra Markle
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ann And Liv Cross Antarctica
by Ann Bancroft, Liv Arnesen
from Da Capo Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$5.60 (2 in stock)
Anna of Byzantium
by Tracy Barrett
from Delacorte Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Answering the Cry for Freedom
by Gretchen Woelfle, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Calkins Creek
for 4th-7th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$16.99
Apollo on the Moon
by Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr.
from Dial Press
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Appomattox
by Burke Davis
from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Aquila's Drinking Gourd
by Pamela Dell
from Tradition Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Arabian Nights
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$29.99
Arabs in the Golden Age
by Mokhtar Moktefi & Veronique Ageorges
from Avyx, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Archaeology Book
by David Down
from Master Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Archaeology (Location: HISRF-ARCH)
$16.14 $8.80 (2 in stock)
Armstrong
by Torben Kuhlmann, Translated by David Henry Wilson
from NorthSouth
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.66
Art and Civilization: Ancient Greece
Art and Civilization
by Matilde Bardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
Ancient Greek History Reference for 4th-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Art and Civilization: Ancient Rome
Art and Civilization
by Giovanni Di Pasquale & Matilde Bardi
from Peter Bedrick Books
Roman History Reference for 4th-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Art for Children: Renaissance
Art for Children
by Lillo Canto
from Chelsea House Publishing
Art Appreciation for 4th-6th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation (Location: HISW-REN)
$20.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Assyrian Empire's Three Attempts to Rule the World
from Baby Professor
for 3rd-5th grade
in Ancient Mesopotamia & Persia (Location: HISW-ANME)
$33.99
Astronauts on the Moon - Hallmark Pop-Up Book
by Al Muenchen and Stanley Hendricks
from Hallmark Publications
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$12.80 (1 in stock)
At the End of the Santa Fe Trail
by Sister Blandina Segale
4th Printing from Bruce Publishing Co.
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Authoress of the Odyssey
by Samuel Butler, introduction by David Grene
from University of Chicago
for 8th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto Cellini
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of William Allen White
by William Allen White
from Macmillan
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (2 in stock)
Bad Faith
by Carmen Callil
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Bad River Boys
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Battle from the Start
by Brian Steel Wills
from HarperCollins
for 9th grade-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Battles of the Ancient World: 1285 BC ~ AD 451
by Kelly Devries, et. al
from Metro Books
for 6th-8th grade
in Military & Weapon History (Location: HISV-MILIT)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Beatrix Potter's Journal (Abridged)
by Beatrix Potter, abridged and introduced by Glen Cavaliero
from Viking Press
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Becoming Elisabeth Elliot
by Ellen Vaughn
from Broadman & Holman
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Beechcraft: Pursuit of Perfection
by Edward H. Phillips
from Flying Books
for Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Beethoven's Heroic Symphony
Once Upon a Masterpiece
by Anna Harwell Celenza, illustrated by JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$14.41
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$24.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann
from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Beggar's King
by Howard C. Emmons
from Van Kampen Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
by Patricia Beatty
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Behind the Scenes
by Elizabeth Keckley, edited by Frances Smith Foster
from Lakeside Press
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Being American in Europe 1750-1860
by Daniel Kilbride
from Johns Hopkins University Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Benjamin in the Woods
Wonder Books Easy Reader
by Eleanor Clymer, illustrated by William Russell
from Wonder Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Berliners
by Vesper Stamper
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$18.69
Betsy and the Emperor
by Staton Rabin
1st edition from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Betsy Ross and the Flag
Landmark #26
by Jane Mayer, illustrated by Grace Paull
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Better a Shield Than a Sword
by Edward Teller
from Free Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
1st edition
for 4th-7th grade
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers
by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula
from Golden Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Biggest (and best) Flag That Ever Flew
by Rebecca C. Jones, illustrated by Charles Geer
from Tidewater Publishers
for 3rd-6th grade
in War of 1812 (Location: HISA-19WET)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Black Man in America
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Blades of Freedom
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #10
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$13.59
Blizzard!
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Press
for 4th-6th grade
2001 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Blockade Runners and Ironclads
by Wallace B. Black
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-5th grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci
by Romola Anderson, R. C. Anderson
1st edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Blow Ye Winds Westerly
by Elizabeth Gemming
1st edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Blue and the Gray
by Thomas B. Allen, Photography by Sam Abell
from National Geographic
for Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Bomb
by Steve Sheinkin
First Edition from Flash Point
for 5th-9th grade
2013 Newbery Honor Book, 2013 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$21.24
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$23.79
1234567891011