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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Adventures and Discoveries of Marco Polo
World Landmark #3
by Richard Walsh
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Adventures of Lewis and Clark
by Ormonde de Kay, Jr.
from Random House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
Adventures of Ulysses
World Landmark #40
by Gerald Gottlieb
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Alaska Gold Rush
Landmark #92
by May McNeer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
Landmark #85
by Russel & Anna Crouse
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Alexander the Great
World Landmark #2
by John Gunther
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson, illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher
from William Morrow & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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)
$45.00 (1 in stock)
America Moves Forward
A History for Peter #3
by Gerald W. Johnson
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
America's First World War
Landmark #77
by Henry Castor
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
American Revolution
Landmark #83
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Americans Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Baity, illustrated by C.B. Falls
from Viking Press
for 5th-10th grade
1952 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Americans Into Orbit
Landmark #101
by Gene Gurney
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel
Landmark #80
by Katherine B. Shippen
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Balboa: Swordsman and Conquistador
World Landmark #25
by Felix Riesenberg, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Battle for Iwo Jima
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by Robert Leckie
from Random House
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in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Battle for the Atlantic
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by Jay Williams
from Random House
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Battle of Britain
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by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House
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Battle of the Bulge
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by John Toland
from Random House
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Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
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by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
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Ben-Gurion and the Birth of Israel
World Landmark #62
by Joan Comay
from Random House
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in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Betsy Ross and the Flag
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by Jane Mayer
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
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 (2 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)
$24.99 $14.00 (1 in stock)
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Brave Men
by Ernie Pyle
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 10th-Adult
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Brave Men
by Ernie Pyle
7th printing, 1945 from Henry Holt and Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Buffalo Bill's Great Wild West Show
Landmark #73
by Walter Havighurst, illustrated by John C. Wonsetler
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Landmark #9
by Adele Nathan, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Spencer Press Landmark #9 (RH#9)
by Adele Nathan
from Spencer Press
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
California Gold Rush
Landmark #6
by May McNeer & Lynd Ward
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
California Gold Rush
Spencer Press Landmark #7 (RH#6)
by May McNeer & Lynd Ward
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Catherine the Great
World Landmark #29
by Katharine Scherman
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
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in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Clara Barton
Landmark #58
by Helen Dore Boylston
from Random House
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Cleopatra of Egypt
World Landmark #50
by Leonora Hornblow
from Random House
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Combat Nurses of World War II
Landmark #116
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Random House
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Coming of the Mormons
Landmark #37
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Random House
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Commandos of World War II
World Landmark #61
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
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Commandos of World War II
World Landmark #61
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
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in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
Conquest of the North and South Poles
Landmark #27
by Russell Owen, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Copper Kings of Montana
Landmark #95
by Marian T. Place
from Random House
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in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Custer's Last Stand
Landmark #20
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Custer's Last Stand
Landmark #20
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House Books for Young Readers
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in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
Daniel Boone: The Opening of the Wilderness
Landmark #21
by John Mason Brown
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Davy Crockett
Landmark #57
by Stewart H. Holbrook
from Random House
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Disaster at Johnstown: The Great Flood
Landmark #109
by Hildegarde Dolson
from Random House
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Dolly Madison
Landmark #47
by Jane Mayer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Endurance
by Caroline Alexander
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Exploits of Xenophon
World Landmark #18
by Geoffrey Household
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
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Exploits of Xenophon
by Geoffrey Household
from Purple House Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$24.99
Explorations of Père Marquette
Landmark #17
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Exploring the Himalaya
World Landmark #36
by William O. Douglas
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Fall of Constantinople
World Landmark #30
by Bernadine Kielty
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
First Book of Medieval Man
by Donald J. Sobol
from Franklin Watts
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
First Men in the World
World Landmark #1
by Anne Terry White
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Flight and Adventures of Charles II
World Landmark #38
by Charles Norman, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Florence Nightingale
World Landmark #46
by Ruth Fox Hume
from Random House
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Flying Aces of World War I
World Landmark #60
by Gene Gurney
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Flying Tigers
Landmark #105
by John Toland
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
From Casablanca to Berlin
Landmark #112
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa
Landmark #94
by Bruce Bliven
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Garibaldi: Father of Modern Italy
World Landmark #32
by Marcia Davenport
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
General Brock and Niagra Falls
World Landmark #28
by Samuel Hopkins Adams
from Random House
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in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
George Washington: Frontier Colonel
Landmark #71
by Sterling North
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Geronimo: Wolf of the Warpath
Landmark #81
by Ralph Moody, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Gettysburg
Landmark #23
by MacKinlay Kantor, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Glory and the Dream - Volume 1
by William Manchester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 10th grade-adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Glory and the Dream - Volume 2
by William Manchester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 10th grade-adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Golden Age of Railroads
Landmark #93
by Stewart H. Holbrook
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II
Landmark #96
by Robert D. Loomis
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Guadalcanal Diary
Landmark #55
by Richard Tregaskis
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Hero of Trafalgar
World Landmark #55
by A. B. C. Whipple
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Heroines of the Early West
Landmark #91
by Nancy Wilson Ross
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
History of God's Remarkable Providences
by Increase Mather
from Back Home Industries
Historical Non-Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
History of Plymouth
by William Bradford
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
History of the English-Speaking Peoples Volume 1
by Winston S. Churchill
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 7th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
How the Merrimac Won
by R.W. Daly
from Thomas Crowell
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Hudson's Bay Company
World Landmark #24
by Richard Morenus
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
If You Sailed On the Mayflower
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern, illustrated by J.B. Handlesman
from Four Winds Press
Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Joan of Arc
World Landmark #4
by Nancy Ross
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
John F. Kennedy and PT-109
Landmark #99
by Richard Tregaskis
from Random House
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John James Audubon
Landmark #48
by John & Margaret Kieran, illustrated by Christine Price
from Random House
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in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Julius Caesar
World Landmark #43
by John Gunther
from Random House
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in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
King Arthur and His Knights
World Landmark #5
by Mabel Louise Robinson
from Random House
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Kit Carson and the Wild Frontier
Landmark #53
by Ralph Moody
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Landing of the Pilgrims
Landmark #2
by James Daugherty
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Landing of the Pilgrims
Spencer Press Landmark #2 (RH#3)
by James Daugherty
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Lawrence of Arabia
World Landmark #52
by Alistair MacLean
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Lee and Grant at Appomattox
Landmark #8
by MacKinlay Kantor
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Emily Hahn
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Lewis & Clark Expedition
Spencer Press Landmark #5 (RH#15)
by Richard L. Neuberger
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Lewis and Clark and Me
by Laurie Myers
from Henry Holt and Company
Fictionalized Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Life of Saint Patrick
World Landmark #17
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Louisiana Purchase
Landmark #24
by Robert Tallant
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Magna Charta
World Landmark #26
by James Daugherty
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Magnificent Century
A History of the Plantagenets Volume 2
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
by James Daugherty
from Viking Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Marie Antoinette
World Landmark #20
by Bernadine Kielty
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Marquis de Lafayette
World Landmark #34
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
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