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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Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Anna of Byzantium
by Tracy Barrett
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for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Apprentice
by Pilar Molina Llorente
First American Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Aquila's Drinking Gourd
by Pamela Dell
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Beau Geste
by Percival Christopher Wren
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Beggar's King
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Black Falcon
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Black Rose
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Brothers in Hope
by Mary Williams, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
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2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman
from HarperCollins
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By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
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from HarperCollins
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Captive
by Scott O'Dell
from HMH Books for Young Readers
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Chariot in the Sky
Land of the Free Series
by Arna Bontemps, illustrated by Cyrus Le Roy Baldridge
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Child Star
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Codfish Musket
by Agnes Hewes, illustrated by Armstrong Sperry
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
1937 Newbery Honor Book
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
Commodore Hornblower
by C. S. Forester
1st edition from Little, Brown & Company
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Cornstalks and Cannonballs
by Barbara Mitchell
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Countdown
by Deborah Wiles
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Dark Moment
by Ann Bridge
Book Club Edition from Macmillan
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Darkness and the Dawn
by Thomas B. Costain
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Earth is the Lord's
by Taylor Caldwell
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Far Frontier
by William O. Steele; illustrated by Paul Galdone
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First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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First Four Years (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
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Flaming Arrows
by William O. Steele, Illustrated by Paul Galdone
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Going West
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Thomas Allen
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Gudrid's Saga
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Hannah Fowler
Kentucky trilogy #2
by Janice Holt Giles
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Helmet of Navarre
by Burke Wilkinson, illustrated by James W. Williamson
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Horses of Anger
by James Forman
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House Divided
by Ben Ames Williams, jacket & illustrations by Reginald Marsh
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Jack Wade, Fighter for Liberty
A Doubleday Signal Book
by Irving Werstein, illustrated by Albert Orbaan
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January's Sparrow
by Patricia Polacco
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by Esther Forbes, illustrated by Lynd Ward
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Kathleen: A Yankee Girl at Gettysburg
by Alice Turner Curtis
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Kings Mountain
by G. Clifton Wisler
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Last Days of Pompeii
by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Last Days of Pompeii
by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton
from Heritage Press
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Letters: The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith
by Nancy LeSourd
1st edition from Zonderkidz
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Letters: The Story of Pocahontas, 1613
Liberty Letters
by Nancy LeSourd
1st edition from Zondervan
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Little House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams
Book Club Edition from Harper & Row
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by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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$9.00 (5 in stock)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Scholastic Inc.
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Long Winter
Little House Series #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
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Lord Hornblower
by C. S. Forester
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Mighty Mastiff of the Mayflower
by Peter Arenstam, illustrated by Karen Busch Holman
from History Press
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Moneyman
by Thomas B. Costain
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
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My Brother Sam Is Dead
by James & Christopher Collier
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
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My Brothers' Flying Machine
by Jane Yolen
from Little, Brown & Company
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Never Dies the Dream
by Margaret Landon
from Doubleday & Company
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
North of Danger
by Dale Fife, map and decorations by Haakon Saether
1st edition from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
North to Freedom
by Anne Holm
from Harcourt, Brace & World
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Not Regina
by Christmas Carol Kauffman
Fourth Printing from Pathway Publishers
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Phoebe and the General
by Judith Berry Griffin
from Weekly Reader
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Pran of Albania
by Elizabeth Miller, illustrated by Maud & Miska Petersham
1930s printing from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
1930 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$115.00 (1 in stock)
Rabble in Arms
by Kenneth Roberts
from Doubleday & Company
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
Ride With Me
by Thomas B. Costain
1944 Edition from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Rose's Journal
by Marissa Moss
from Houghton Mifflin
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in Great Depression (1929-1939) (Location: HISA-20GD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Rush Revere and the American Revolution
by Rush Limbaugh with Kathryn Adams Limbaugh
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Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims
by Rush Limbaugh
from Threshold Editions
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rush Revere and the First Patriots
by Rush Limbaugh
1St Edition from Threshold Editions
for 4th-8th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sailing the Unknown
by Michael Rosen, Illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli
from Creative Editions
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Scarlet
by Stephen R. Lawhead
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Scottish Chiefs
by Jane Porter, edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 8th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Seaman's Journal
by Gail Karwoski & James Watling
1st edition from Ideals Children's Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Siege!
by Wilma Pitchford Hays, illustrated by Peter Cox
from Coward McCann
for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Silver Sword
by Ian Serraillier, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Criterion Books
for 4th-8th grade
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$8.00 (3 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox, illustrated by Eros Keith
from Bradbury Press
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Snow Goose
by Paul Gallico
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
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$19.95 $14.00 (2 in stock)
So Far from the Sea
by Eve Bunting
from Clarion Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Spy!
by Anna Myers
from Walker and Company
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Stink Alley
by Jamie Gilson
from HarperCollins
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Stories of the Old Dominion
by John Esten Cooke
from American Foundation Publications
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Story for a Black Night
by Clayton Bess
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Yorktown as told by Conrad Shultz
by W. Walter Van Baman
from Privately printed
History in Verse for 10th-Adult
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$16.00 (1 in stock)
Streams to the River, River to the Sea
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 7th-9th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sword of the Wilderness
by Elizabeth Coatsworth, illustrated by Harve Stein
from Macmillan
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Tale of Two Cities (adapted)
by Charles Dickens, adapted by Grace A. Benscotter & Merrill Howe and illustrated by Bernice Oehler
1923 printing from Longmans, Green & Co.
Victorian Novel for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
The Trees
Awakening Land #1
by Conrad Richter
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
This Dear-Bought Land
by Jean Lee Latham
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
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$56.00 (1 in stock)
Three Names
by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Alexander Pertzoff
from HarperCollins
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Trail Through Danger
by William O. Steele, illustrated by Charles Beck
from Harcourt, Brace & World
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Traitor Among Us
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk
from Eerdmans
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Trumpeter of Krakow
by Eric P. Kelly, illustrated by Angela Pruszynska
from Macmillan
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1929 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Voyage on the Great Titanic
Dear America
by Ellen Emerson White
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th Grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Well of Sacrifice
by Chris Eboch
1st edition from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Which Way Freedom?
by Joyce Hansen
from Walker and Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Yankee Doodle Boy
by Joseph Martin
from Holiday House
Historical Non-Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Young Bess
by Margaret Irwin
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 5th-7th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (2 in stock)