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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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)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
1812: The War and the World
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
5,000-Year-Old Puzzle
by Claudia Logan, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
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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
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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Abigail Adams
A Discovery Book
by Helen Stone Peterson, illustrated by Betty Fraser
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Abraham Lincoln
A Discovery Book
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from Garrard Publishing Company
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in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Abraham Lincoln
Initial Biography
by Genevieve Foster
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Historical Non-fiction for 3rd-6th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
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Across the Wide & Lonesome Prairie
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Addy Learns a Lesson
by Connie Porter
from American Girl
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Adoniram Judson: A Grand Purpose
by Renee Meloche
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Adventure to Home
by Robert Wells, illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
by Ormonde de Kay, Jr.
from Random House
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
North Star Books #29
by John Bakeless
from Houghton Mifflin
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Adventures of Marco Polo
by Russell Freedman, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
First Edition from Arthur A. Levine Books
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Adventures of Perrine
Windermere Readers #10
by Hector Malot, translated by Gil Meynier, adapted by Edith Heal
1954 edition from Rand McNally
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Adventures of Perrine
Windermere Series 4
by Hector Malot, translated by Gil Meynier, adapted by Edith Heal
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African Traveler
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
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Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
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$14.99
Album of Spaceflight
by Tom McGowen, illustrated by Lee Brubaker
from Rand McNally
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Alexander of Macedon
International Collectors Library
by Harold Lamb
from International Collectors Library
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in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Alexander The Great
by Jane Bingham
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Alexander the Great
by Charles Mercer
from Harper & Row
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in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Alexander the Great
by Robert Green
from Grolier Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great and the Greeks
by Nathaniel Harris
from Bookwrights Press
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in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
All About Aviation
All About Books #51
by Robert D. Loomis
from Random House
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in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Rockets and Jets
All About Books #13
by Fletcher Pratt
2nd edition from Random House
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in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Satellites and Space Ships
All About Books #28
by David Dietz
from Random House
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in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Satellites and Space Ships
All About Books #28
by David Dietz
Revised edition from Random House
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in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About the Arctic and Antarctic
All About Books #20
by Armstrong Sperry
from Random House
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All About Undersea Exploration
All About Books #35
by Ruth Brindze, illustrated with more than 60 photographs
from Random House
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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
All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #1
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Follett
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #4
by Sydney Taylor; illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Follett Publishing Co.
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$34.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Time of George Washington
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
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in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
from William Morrow & Company
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
America Moves Forward
A History for Peter #3
by Gerald W. Johnson
from William Morrow & Company
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America's Ethan Allen
by Stewart H. Holbrook; illustrated by Lynd Ward
9th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
America's Robert E. Lee
by Henry Steele Commager, illustrated by Lynd Ward
for 3rd-6th grade
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American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
for 3rd-Adult
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 (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$21.99
Amerigo Vespucci
by Nina Brown Baker
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Amy Carmichael: Rescuing the Children
Heroes for Young Readers
by Renee Taft Meloche
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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Ancient Celts: Archaeology Unlocks the Secrets of the Celts' Past
National Geographic Investigates
by Jen Green
from National Geographic
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Egypt Revealed
by Ben Morgan, Peter Chrisp, Sue Davidson
1st edition from DK Publishing
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greece
for 2nd-4th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greece
by Peter Connolly, text by Andrew Solway
from Oxford University
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in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greek Temple
by John Malam, Mark Bergin
for 3rd-7th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Rome
Discoveries Series
by Dr. Paul C. Roberts
from Barnes & Noble
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient World
by John Haywood
from Quercus
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Ancient World: The Chinese
The Ancient World
by Pamela Odijk
from Macmillan
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Angel of Mercy
by Rachel Baker
from Julian Messner
for 3rd-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
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)
Annotated Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, edited by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
Annotated from W. W. Norton and Co.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$35.00
Anselm of Canterbury
Christian Biographies for Young Readers
by Simonetta Carr
from Reformation Heritage Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
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)
$19.99
Antonin Dvorak
Julian Messner Shelf of Biographies
by Clair Lee Purdy, illustrated by Edgard Cirlin
from Julian Messner
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Appomattox
by Burke Davis
from HarperCollins
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in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Apprentice
by Pilar Molina Llorente
First American Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Architects
Colonial American Craftsmen
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Franklin Watts
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in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Ark, The
by Margot Benary-Isbert
2021 Revision from Purple House Press
for 3rd-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$23.00
Armstrong
by Torben Kuhlmann, Translated by David Henry Wilson
from NorthSouth
for 2nd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Art & Civilization: Renaissance
by Paul Procter, Rupert Matthews
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$14.00
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)
$12.00 (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)
$12.00 (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)
Aztec
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Kisa Sasaki
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Aztecs & Incas
Sightseers Essential Travel Guides to the Past
by Camilla Reid
Har/Map from Kingfisher
for 2nd-5th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Balboa:
by Jeannette Mirsky
from Harper & Row
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Barbarian Invasions of Europe
by Patrick Perin & Pierre Forni, assisted by Laure-Charlotte Feffer
from Silver Burdett Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
Battle for Long Island and New York
by Susan Lee
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Battle for Quebec
North Star Books #38
by F. Van Wyck Mason, illustrated by Victor Mays
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Battle of the Bulge
by Stephen W. Sears
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 3rd-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Battle of Yorktown
by Thomas J. Fleming
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 3rd-7th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Bay of the North
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Beautiful Stories of Life
by Cynthia Rylant
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 4th-7th grade
$17.99
Beethoven
by Reba Paeff Mirsky
from Follett
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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)
Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
by Patricia Beatty
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 1st-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Beowulf
by Rosemary Sutcliff
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Betsy Ross: Girl of Old Philadelphia
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ann Weil, illustrated by Al Fiorentino
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
1st edition
for 4th-7th grade
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Big Book of Cowboys
by Holling Clancy Holling
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-8th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
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)
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)
$14.99
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)
Book of Famous Explorers
Young Folks Library
by Edwin Erle Sparks, editor
from Auxiliary Educational League
for 3rd-9th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$27.99
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-12th grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$27.99
Book of Myths
by Helen Sewell
from Macmillan
for 4th-7th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Booker T. Washington
A Discovery Book
by Lillie G. Patterson
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Boys' Book of the West
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Brady
by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Coward McCann
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Brave Cloelia
by Jane Curry
1st edition from J. Paul Getty Museum
for 4th-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Brother Hugo and the Bear
by Katy Beebe
from Eerdmans
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$17.99
Brothers in Hope
by Mary Williams, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-4th grade
2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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