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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102 Items found Print
Active Filters: Historical Picture Books, Hardcover, In-Stock Books & Materials
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 $9.50 (1 in stock)
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
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (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)
Bad River Boys
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Beethoven's Heroic Symphony (Once Upon a Masterpiece)
from Charlesbridge
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$16.95
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)
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
Brave Girl
by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Brave Harriet
by Marissa Moss
from Harcourt Children's Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cassie's Journey
by Brett Harvey; illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
$6.50 (2 in stock)
Choosing Brave
by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington
from Roaring Brook Press
for 1st-4th grade
2023 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Columbus: The Triumphant Failure
by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell
from Franklin Watts
for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Coming to America
by Betsy Maestro
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Damon, Pythias, and the Test of Friendship
by Teresa Bateman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
1999 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Enemies of Slavery
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Flight
by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Mike Wimmer
from Philomel Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Going West
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Thomas Allen
from Dial Books for Young Readers
Historical fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Going West
by Martin Waddell, illustratred by Philippe Dupasquier
from Harper & Row
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Good Ol' Cowboy Stories
by Jack Terry
from Harvest House
for 4th-7th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Good Queen Bess
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Great Little Madison
by Jean Fritz
1st edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Home in the Woods
by Eliza Wheeler
from Nancy Paulsen Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning
by Rosalyn Schanzer
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How Sweet the Sound
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War
by Kay Moore
from Perfection Learning
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$16.60
Image of War: 1861-1865 Volume 1
by Jenny Davis
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Irenaeus of Lyons
Heroes of the Faith
by Dr. Sinclair Ferguson
from Banner of Truth Trust
for 3rd-6th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$14.00
Joan of Arc
by Margaret Hodges, illustrated by Robert Rayevsky
1st edition from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
John Brown: One Man Against Slavery
by Gwen Everett, Illustrated by Jacob Lawrence
from Rizzoli International Publications
for 1st-3rd grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
John Calvin
Christian Biographies for Young Readers
by Simonetta Carr
1st edition from Reformation Heritage Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$18.00
John Hancock
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee, illustrated by Chuck Mitchell
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
John, Paul, George & Ben
by Lane Smith
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Juan Ponce de Leon
by Tamara Green
from World Almanac Library
for 2nd-4th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
King George's Head Was Made of Lead
by F. N. Monjo
from Coward McCann
for 2nd-4th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
King's Day
by Aliki
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Last Princess
by Fay Stanley; illustrated by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biographies for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Liberty
by Lynn Curlee
from Atheneum
for 4th-6th grade
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Librarian Who Measured the Earth
by Kathryn Lasky
from Little, Brown & Company
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99 $12.00 (2 in stock)
Life & Times of Beethoven
by Gino Pugnetti
from Curtis Publishing Co.
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Colony of Roanoke
by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Hudson Talbott
from Putnam Juvenile
for 2nd-6th grade
in New World Colonization (Location: HISA-17NW)
$18.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Many Thousand Gone
by Virginia Hamilton
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Marguerite Makes a Book
by Bruce Robertson
from J. Paul Getty Museum
Picture Books for 2nd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.95
Martin Luther
by Paul L. Maier
1st edition from Concordia Publishing House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Martin Luther King, Jr
by Carol Hilgartner Schlank, Barbara Metzger, illustrated by John Kastner
from Gryphon House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Moses
by Carole Boston Weatherford
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
My Brothers' Flying Machine
by Jane Yolen
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
My Secret Camera
by Mendel Grossman
from Harcourt
for 4th-8th grade
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
National Geographic Society: 100 Years of Adventure and Discovery
by Courtlandt Dixon Barnes Bryan
1st edition from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Off to Plymouth Rock! with CD
by Dandi Daley Mackall
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Panama Canal
by Elizabeth Mann
from Mikaya Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Patrol
by Walter Dean Myers, illustrated by Ann Grifalconi
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vietnam War (1957-1975) (Location: HISA-20VIE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Peter the Great
by Diane Stanley
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99 $12.00 (2 in stock)
Peter the Great
by Diane Stanley
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Photographic History of the Civil War: Armies & Leaders
from Random House
for 6th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Davy Crockett
by David Adler
from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrim Voices
by Connie Roop, Peter Roop, eds.
from Walker and Company
for 2nd-6th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrims Plantation
by June Behrens and Pauline Brower
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Polar the Titanic Bear
by Daisy Spedden, Laurie McGaw
from Hyperion/Madison Press
Word Books for 3rd-6th grade
in Titanic & 20th Century Disasters (Location: HISW-20DIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Prince Henry the Navigator
by Leonard Everett Fisher
1st edition from Atheneum
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Queen of the Falls
by Chris Van Allsburg
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rare Treasure
by Don Brown
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Roanoke: The Lost Colony
by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple, illustrated by Roger Roth
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in New World Colonization (Location: HISA-17NW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sailing the Unknown
by Michael Rosen, Illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli
from Creative Editions
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
by Lynn Curlee
from Atheneum
for 2nd-5th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sieur de La Salle
by John Paul Zronik
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Slave Family
by Bobbie Kalman & Amanda Bishop
from Crabtree Publishing
for 1st-4th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
So Tall Within
by Gary D. Schmidt, Illustrated by Daniel Minter
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Song to Demeter
by Cynthia & William Birrer
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Christopher Columbus
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of D-Day
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Bonhomme Richard
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Norman Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Bonhomme Richard
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Norman Richards
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Constitution
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Marilyn Prolman
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Fall of the Soviet Union
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Miles Harvey
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Lincoln Memorial
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Natalie Miller
from Unknown Publisher
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Star-Spangled Banner
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Natalie Miller
from Children's Press
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (3 in stock)
Story of the U.S.S. Arizona
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein & Tom Dunnington
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Valley Forge
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Struggle for a Continent
The American Story Series
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
from HarperCollins
Historical Reference for 3rd-6th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$18.99
Tales of the American West
by Neil & Ting Morris, illustrated by Anna Clarke
from Derrydale Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Thomas Harriot
by Ralph Staiger
1st edition from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Thomas Jefferson
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Through My Eyes
by Ruby Bridges, Compiled and Edited by Margo Lundell
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
2000 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
To Fly
by Wendie C. Old, illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker
from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th grade
2003 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$17.99
Touched By Fire
by William C. Davis, ed.
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Unfading Beauty
by Tracy M. Leininger
from His Seasons
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Unspeakable
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
2022 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$17.99
Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged!
by Jody Nyasha Warner, Richard Rudnicki
from Groundwood Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Voices of Ancient Egypt
by Kay Winters
from National Geographic
for 4th-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Westward With Columbus
by John Dyson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
When Washington Crossed the Delaware
by Lynne Cheney
from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for Preschool-3rd grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May?
by Jean Fritz & Margot Tomes
from Coward McCann
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Where Was Patrick Henry On the 29th of May?
by Jean Fritz
1st edition from Putnam Juvenile
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock?
by Jean Fritz
from Coward McCann
for 4th-6th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Wide Open Spaces
by Jack Terry
from Harvest House
for 4th-7th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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