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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1066: The Year of the Conquest
by David Howarth
from Penguin Putnam
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$16.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
1776
by David McCullough
from Simon and Schuster
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$14.00
1861: The Civil War Awakening
by Adam Goodheart
from Vintage Books
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Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
by G. Frederick Owen
from Tyndale House
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Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
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Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt
by Theodore Roosevelt
from National Geographic
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Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald
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Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles
from Penguin Putnam
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$19.00
Aeschylus I: The Oresteia (old)
The Complete Greek Tragedies
by Aeschylus (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
from University of Chicago
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Literature (Location: ZCLE-LIT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Aeschylus II: The Oresteia
The Complete Greek Tragedies
by Aeschylus (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
3rd edition from University of Chicago
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.00
Aeschylus' Oresteia
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$16.00
Aeschylus' Oresteia
by Aeschylus, translated by Peter Meineck
from Hackett Publishing Company
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.50
Aeschylus' Oresteian Trilogy
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus, translated by Phillip Vellacott
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.00 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Age of Religious Wars
by Richard S. Dunn
2nd edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
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Alexander Hamilton
by Ron Chernow
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Alfred the Great
by Asser
from Penguin Classics
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$18.00
Amazing Grace
by Eric Metaxas
from HarperOne
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$15.99
America's Longest War
by George C. Herring
2nd edition from McGraw-Hill
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
America: From Gridlock to Deadlock
A Basic History of the United States Volume 6
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$19.00
American Civil War
by Robert K. Krick
from Osprey Publishing
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American Civil War
by John Keegan
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American Passage
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American Revolutionaries
by Milton Meltzer
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Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
by Gordon S. Wood
from Penguin Books
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Ancient City
by Hazel Dodge, Peter Connolly
First Thus from Oxford University
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$14.00 (2 in stock)
Ancient Egypt
by David P. Silverman
from Oxford University
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$18.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Rome
by Richard Maybury
2nd edition from Bluestocking Press
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$11.95
And There Was Light
by Jacques Lusseyran
Third Edition from New World Library
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$18.95
Annals
by Tacitus, translated with introduction & notes by A.J. Woodman
from Hackett Publishing Company
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Annals of Imperial Rome
Penguin Classics
by Tacitus
from Penguin Classics
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$19.00
Anne Bradstreet
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Anne Bradstreet
Christian Renegades Series
by Doug Wilson
3rd edition from Canon Press
Biography for
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$16.95
Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works
Oxford World's Classics
by Anselm, edited and introduction by Brian Davies and Gillian Evans
from Oxford University
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Arguing about Slavery
by William Lee Miller
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Arthur Erskine's Story
Reformation Trail Series #14
by Deborah Alcock
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$25.95
Ascent to Love
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$16.00
Autobiography of George Muller
by George Muller
from Whitaker House
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$9.99
Bacchae and Other Plays
Penguin Classics
by Euripides (translation by John Davies)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Tragedy for 11th-Adult
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$12.00
Bacchae and Other Plays
Penguin Classics
by Euripides (translation by Phillip Vellacott)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Tragedy for 11th-Adult
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$13.00
Band of Brothers
by Stephen Ambrose, Foreword by Tom Hanks
25th anniversary from Simon and Schuster
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$18.99
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by Dow Beckham
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Basic Works of Aristotle
by Aristotle
from Modern Library
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Battle Cry of Freedom
Oxford History of the United States
by James M. McPherson
from Oxford University
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$24.95
Beat to Quarters
Hornblower Series #6
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Beautiful Thread
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by Penelope Wilcock
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$14.99
Beginner Book: Warfare by Duct Tape
by Steven Erickson
from Chinquapin Press
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$11.95
Beginning of the Republic
A Basic History of the United States Volume 2
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$17.00
Beowulf
by Anonymous (translation by Frederick Rebsamen)
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Medieval Poetic Epic for 8th-Adult
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Beowulf
by Anonymous (translation by Seamus Heaney)
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Medieval Poetic Epic for 8th-Adult
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$15.95
Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Seamus Heaney
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Medieval Poetic Epic for 9th-Adult
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$24.95
Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Douglas Wilson
from Canon Press
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$14.00
Beyond the Sacred Page
Book of Books #2
by Jack Cavanaugh
from Zondervan
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Birth of the Modern
by Paul Johnson
from HarperCollins
Social Commentary for 10th-Adult
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$12.00
Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge
by John S. D. Eisenhower
1st edition from Da Capo Press
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Black & Tan
by Doug Wilson
from Canon Press
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Black Odyssey
by Mary Cable
from Penguin Classics
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Bondage of the Will
by Martin Luther
from Revell Publishing
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Bondage of the Will
by Martin Luther, translated by J. I. Packer and O. R. Robinson
from Baker Academics
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$24.99
Bondage of the Will
by Martin Luther, translated by Henry Cole
from Canon Press
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$12.95
Bonhoeffer
by Eric Metaxas, foreword by Timothy J. Keller
Revised and Updated from Thomas Nelson Publishers
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$24.99
Born to Run
by Christopher McDougall
from Vintage Books
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Breath of Peace
Hawk and the Dove Series #7
by Penelope Wilcock
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$14.99
Brendan Voyage
Modern Library Exploration
by Tim Severin
from Modern Library
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$19.00
Bridge to the Sun
by Gwen Terasaki
from Rock Creek Books
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Brightest Heaven of Invention
by Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
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$21.00
Bruchko
by Bruce Olson
from Charisma House
Biography for 10th-Adult
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$16.99
Bruchko
by Bruce Olson
Updated from Charisma House
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Bruchko and the Motilone Miracle
by Bruce Olson
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Biography for 10th-Adult
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Brunelleschi's Dome
from Penguin Books
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Buffalo Bill and the Wild West
by Henry Blackman Sell and Victor Weybright
Reprint from International Cody Family Assoc.
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Burial at Thebes
by Sophocles, translated by Seamus Heaney
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Caine Mutiny
by Herman Wouk
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1952 Pulitzer Prize Winner
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$18.99
Call to Conscience
by Martin Luther King, Jr., Edited by Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepard
from Grand Central Publishing
for 10th-Adult
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$16.00
Canterbury Tales
Penguin Classics
by Geoffrey Chaucer (edited by Nevill Coghill)
from Penguin Classics
Medieval Poetry for 8th-12th grade
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$11.00
Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by David Wright
from Oxford University
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$8.95
Captain Dreyfus
by Nicholas Halasz
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Carolingian Chronicles
by Bernhard Walter Scholz (translator) with Barbara Rogers
2000 Printing from University of Michigan Press
for Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Catch-22
by Joseph Heller
50th Anniversary Edition from Simon and Schuster
for 11th-Adult
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$18.99
Chance to Die
by Elisabeth Elliot
from Revell Publishing
Biography for 8th-12th grade
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$22.99
Charis in the World of Wonders
by Marly Youmans
from Ignatius Press
for 10th-Adult
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$17.95
Christianity and the Constitution
by John Eidsmoe
from Baker Academics
for Adult
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$25.00 $15.00 (1 in stock)
Chronicles of the Crusades
by Jean de Joinville and Geoffrey of Villehardouin
from Penguin Classics
for Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament
by H. Wayne House
from Zondervan
Biblical Reference for 9th-Adult
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Churchill
by Paul Johnson
Reprint from Penguin Putnam
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.00
Churchill: Walking with Destiny
by Andrew Roberts
from Penguin Books
for Adult
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Citizen Soldiers
by Stephen Ambrose
from Simon and Schuster
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$20.99
Civil War
Penguin Classics
by Julius Caesar
from Penguin Classics
Primary Source Documents for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.00
Civil War Songbook
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War: A History
by Harry Hansen, Introduction by Richard S. Wheeler, Foreword by Gary Gallagher
from New American Library
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War: A Narrative - 3 Volume Set
by Shelby Foote
1st Vintage Books Ed from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$88.00
Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance
by John R. Hale
from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Classic Myths to Read Aloud
by William F. Russell
from Three Rivers Press
in Reading Aloud & Story-telling (Location: LIR-RAST)
$16.00 $9.50 (1 in stock)
Co. Aytch
by Sam Watkins
from Touchstone
Historical Non-fiction for 8th-Adult
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$17.00
Colonial Experience
A Basic History of the United States Volume 1
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
in Basic History of the United States (Location: HISCUR-US)
$17.00
Colonial Period: 1607-1750
American History by Era Volume 2
by Brenda Stalcup (editor)
from Greenhaven Press
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Commentary on Peter & Jude
by Martin Luther, translated and edited by John Nichols Lenker
from Kregel Publications
for Adult
in Bible Commentaries (Location: XBI-COMM)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Commodore Hornblower
Hornblower Series #9
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 10th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Communist Manifesto
Penguin Classics
by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
from Penguin Classics
Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00
Communist Manifesto
Penguin Classics
by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
from Penguin Classics
Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Conquest of Gaul
Penguin Classics
by Julius Caesar
from Penguin Classics
Primary Source Documents for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$12.00
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