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?
290 Items found Print
Active Filters: 8th grade (Ages 13-14), Trade Paperback, Used Books & Materials
20th Century Wars
by Robert W. Smith
for 5th-12th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation
by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon
from Hill and Wang
for 6th-12th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
from Graphia
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Accidental Voyage
Mr. Pipes Series #4
by Doug Bond
from P&R Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
American Waterways: Canal Days
by Jeanne Munn Bracken, ed.
from History Compass
for 7th-12th grade
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
by Karen Zeinert
from Linnet Books
for 7th-10th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom
by Walter Dean Myers
from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient City
by Hazel Dodge, Peter Connolly
First Thus from Oxford University
for 8th-Adult
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Ancient Greek Art
from Heinemann-Raintree
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greek War and Weapons
by Haydn Middleton
from Heinemann Educational Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
And the Word Came With Power
by Joanne Shetler, Patricia Purvis
from Wycliffe Bible Translators
for 2nd-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.50 (2 in stock)
Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
from Puffin Books
for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
from Scholastic Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Antarctica: Escape from Disaster
by Peter Lerangis
from Scholastic Reference
for 4th-8th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of North American Exploration
by Glyndwr Williams, William H. Goetzmann
Oklahoma Paperbacks Ed from University of Oklahoma Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Battle Heroes: Voices from Afghanistan
by Allan Zullo
from Scholastic Press
for 5th-8th grade
in War on Terror (Location: HISA-21WT)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of the Little Bighorn
by Mark Henckel
1st edition from Falcon Press Publishing
for 5th-8th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Behind Enemy Lines
Sterling Point Books
by H.R. DeMallie
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in WWII: European Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2E)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Behind the Blue and Gray
by Delia Ray
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-9th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Beyond the Sacred Page
Book of Books #2
by Jack Cavanaugh
from Zondervan
for 7th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
from Hampton-Brown
for 4th-8th grade
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
by William Thayer
from A Beka Books
for 5th-9th grade
in A Beka Book Report books (Location: REA-ABK)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Black Heroes of the American Revolution
by Burke Davis
1992 Odyssey Classics edition from Clarion Books
for 5th-8th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Bold Journey
by Charles Bohner
from Houghton Mifflin
Non-fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Book of the Ancient Greeks - Student Guide
by Matthew Anderson
from Memoria Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$20.50 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Book of the Ancient Greeks - Teacher Guide
by Matthew Anderson
from Memoria Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$20.50 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Book of the Ancient Romans - Teacher Guide
by Dorothy Mills
from Memoria Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$20.50 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Book of the Ancient World
by Dorothy Mills
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$19.50 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Book of the Ancient World - Teacher Guide
by Matthew Anderson
from Memoria Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$19.90 $12.00 (2 in stock)
Boy and the Samurai
by Erik Christian Haugaard
Reissue from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Boy in the Alamo
by Margaret Cousins
from Corona Publishing Co.
Historical fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Boy's War
by David Michell
1st edition from OMF
for 5th-8th grade
in WWII: Pacific Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2P)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Boys' War
by Jim Murphy
from Clarion Books
Historical Non-fiction for 5th-8th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$12.99 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Brethren
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Buffalo Bill
by Helen Cody Wetmore
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman, David Frampton (Woodcuts)
2nd edition from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Castle
by David Macaulay
from Graphia
Architecture for 4th-8th grade
1978 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$16.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Castle Diary
by Richard Platt
from Candlewick Press
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Cathedral
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
Architecture for 4th-8th grade
1974 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Catherine, Called Birdy
by Karen Cushman
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
1995 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (3 in stock)
Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$5.00 (3 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$10.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum
from Simon and Schuster
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Children's Homer
by Padraic Colum
from Simon and Brown
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Chu Ju's House
by Gloria Whelan
Reprint from HarperCollins
for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
City
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$14.99 $7.50 (2 in stock)
Civil War
by Janet Cassidy
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th Grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War
by Pat Wesolowski
from Unknown Publisher
for 4th-8th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Colonial Town: Williamsburg
by Bobbie Kalman
Revised from Crabtree Publishing
for 1st-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Colonial Triangular Trade: An Economy Based on Human Misery
by Phyllis Raybin Emert, ed.
from History Compass
for 7th-12th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Coloring Book of the Olympics
by E. Knill
Csm from Bellerophon Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Coming of Civilization
by Trevor Cairns
from Cambridge University
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun
by Rhoda Blumberg
from HarperCollins
Historical Non-Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1986 Newbery Honor Book
in Japan (Location: HISMC-JAP)
$9.99 $7.00 (2 in stock)
Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
from Sandpiper Books
Non-fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Cowboys & Cattlemen (Location: HISA-19CO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Crispin: The Cross of Lead
by Avi
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 4th-8th grade
2003 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Cry From Egypt
by Hope Auer
from Great Waters Press
for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.50 (2 in stock)
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths - Audio CD
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Yearling
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
$25.00 $14.00 (1 in stock)
Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Dark Frigate
by Charles Boardman Hawes
from Little, Brown & Company
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1924 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Dateline: Troy
by Paul Fleischman
New Updated Edition from Candlewick Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
by David Crockett
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank
from Anchor Books
for 7th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Dispelling the Tyranny
Struggle for Freedom Series #2
by Piet Prins
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$11.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: American Revolution
by Stuart Murray
from DK Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Dragon and the Raven
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Eating the Plates
by Lucille Recht Penner
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 4th-9th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Elizabeth I
Jackdaw No. 53
from Jackdaw Publications
for 8th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation (Location: HISW-REN)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #5
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Gail Owens
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Era of Modernization Through the 1930s
by Kathy Sammis
from Walch Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Europe Finds the World
Cambridge Introduction to World History
by Trevor Cairns
from Cambridge University
for 6th-9th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration of Africa
by Colin Hynson
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$2.50 (2 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Dreher
from Tor Classic
Non-fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Sansevere-Dreher, Illustrated by Ed Renfro
from Starscape
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Eyewitness: Civil War
by John Stanchack
from DK Children
for 5th-8th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Faith Unfurled
from History Compass
for 4th-8th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$7.95 $5.57 (1 in stock)
Fall of Quebec
by George Ochoa
from Silver Burdett Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Canada (Location: HISMC-CAN)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Famous Men of Modern Times - Student Guide
by Leigh Lowe & Tanya Charlton
from Memoria Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Memoria Press American & Modern Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$19.90 $12.00 (3 in stock)
Famous Men of Modern Times - Teacher Guide
by Leigh Lowe & Tanya Charlton
from Memoria Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Memoria Press American & Modern Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$19.90 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Father's Promise
by Donna Hess
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Fighting Ground
by Avi
from HarperCollins
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
For God and Country
by John Riddle
from Barbour Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Forgotten Daughter
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from American Home-School Publishing
for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Fort Clatsop
by Daniel J. Dattilio
from KC Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
From Distant Days
by Benjamin R. Foster
from CDL Press
for 4th-8th grade
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington
Sterling Point Books
by Sterling North
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
George Washington & the Founding of a Nation
by Albert Marrin
from Dutton Juvenile
for 6th-10th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Give Me Liberty!
by Russell Freedman
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-9th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Glimpses of Truth
Book of Books #1
by Jack Cavanaugh
from Zondervan
for 7th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Glorious Age in Africa
by Daniel Chu, Elliot Skinner
from Africa World Press, Inc.
for 5th-10th grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$4.00 (5 in stock)
God King
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Joanne Williamson
from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95 $9.50 (4 in stock)
Going Solo
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Gold Rush Dogs
by Claire Rudolf Murphy, Jane G. Haigh
from Alaska Northwest Books
for 4th-9th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Golden Fleece
by Padraic Colum & Willy Pogany
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
1922 Newbery Honor Book
$10.99 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Great and Terrible Quest
by Margaret Lovett
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
Historical Fiction for 6th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Great Battles of the Civil War
from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
123