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As with most things, C.S. Lewis had a unique view of history. For him, the really important bits were the stories—he makes a distinction between actual historical realities and the idealized versions of them handed down which make heroes and villains of mere men and women. It's not that the stories are completely false, but their value is for character-building, not as factual data.

The tales of George Washington's bravery in battle, coolness under pressure, rigorous truthfulness, and unflagging piety may accurately preserve the essence of his temperament and nobility, but not all of them are strictly historical. The point of these stories isn't to impart facts, however, it's to offer an example of goodness for the rest of us to emulate.

Getting the facts right is still important, though. As Christians, we can't afford to have a false understanding of "the old days." Mankind is fallen, and the story of his sojourn on Earth is filled with war, suffering, disease, unfaithfulness, pride and envy; a study of history that omits those elements is both false and useless. False, because it is incomplete, and useless, because it tells us nothing of the human condition or our current situation.

It's a bit of a mystery to us why non-Christians are motivated to study the past. For believers, the end goal isn't just acquisition of facts about events and cultures, it's the instillation of a thoroughly Christian worldview, an understanding of the course of the human endeavour as decreed and guided by God Himself.

The story of Jesus Christ is central. It is the only history story that fulfills the character-building element Lewis looked for, while remaining absolutely true in every detail. Man is fallen and he does struggle against God, but through Christ there is hope of redemption, a chance to connect heaven and earth through the Atonement. Christ is the ultimate example of God's providence.

In the Reformed tradition, God's sovereignty is a very big deal. According to the doctrine of divine decree, God has ordered all things that were, are and will come to be for His own good pleasure and glory. His hand is thus present everywhere, in the privatest private life and the most public and widespread crisis. God is in control, providentially guiding nations, men, and the entire cosmos.

This very doctrine is perhaps what best explains the humanist's interest in history (whether he be atheist, agnostic, pagan). Man's natural bent is to make himself the hero of the story, to show how people can sway the trajectory of all things. God's version is quite different, and the two are naturally in conflict. Resolution may only be found in Christ.

For, while God decrees and guides all things, He has also (paradoxically) decreed man's free will and personal responsibility. Men do change the course of kingdoms, but it is only through God's agency. A proper Christian study of history takes both truths into account, and tells the stories of good guys and bad guys through the light of everything God's Word says about human nature and divine control.

We encourage you to take great comfort and joy in your study of history. Read books, watch movies (carefully noting that a lot of the story is likely to be inaccurate in detail), go on fieldtrips to forts and battlefields and birthplaces. Most of all, talk about these things. The end goal, after all, isn't to know a bunch of trivia, but to understand what God has done and continues to do.

No one knows for sure what the end of history will look like, except that every knee in heaven and on earth will bow to the returned glorious Christ, who comes to judge the living and the dead. What we believe about Him will determine whether that culmination will be filled with joy or loathing (everyone will be terrified). He is the author of history, and its centerpiece; honor Him in your study of it.

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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1,001 Things Everyone Should Know About American History
by John A. Garraty
1st edition from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
100 Great Wonders of the World
from Barnes & Noble
for 5th-Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
102 Favorite Paintings By Norman Rockwell
by Norman Rockwell
from Crown Publishers
for 7th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
1776
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 1
by Nick R. Needham
2nd edition from Christian Focus Publications
Church History Reference for 11th-Adult
2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 2
by Nick R. Needham
2nd edition from Christian Focus Publications
Church History Reference for 11th-Adult
2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 3
by Nick R. Needham
2nd edition from Christian Focus Publications
Church History Reference for 11th-Adult
2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 4
by Nick R. Needham
2nd edition from Christian Focus Publications
Church History Reference for 11th-Adult
2000 Years of Christ's Power Volume 5
by Nick R. Needham
from Christian Focus Publications
Church History Reference for 11th-Adult
32 Christians Who Changed the World
by Glenn S. Sunshine
from Canon Press
for 10th-Adult
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
500 Nations
by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
$28.00 (1 in stock)
Abide With Me
by John H. Parker, Paul Seawright
from New Leaf Press
for 7th-Adult
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
by Chester G. Hearn
from US Naval Institute Press
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in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral of the Ocean Sea
by Samuel E. Morison
from Atlantic Monthly Press
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Buffalo Bill
by Col. William F. Cody
from Harper & Brothers
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Captain Bonneville
by Washington Irving, illustrated by Robert Reynolds
Klickitat from Binford & Mort Publishing
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Mark Twain
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
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African Kingdoms
Great Ages of Man
by Basil Davidson
from Time-Life Books
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in Great Ages of Man (Location: ADU-HISGAM)
Age of Enlightenment
Great Ages of Man
by Peter Gay
from Time-Life Books
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in Great Ages of Man (Location: ADU-HISGAM)
Age of Exploration
Great Ages of Man
by John R. Hale
from Time-Life Books
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Age of Faith
Story of Civilization IV
by Will Durant
from Simon and Schuster
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$15.00 (2 in stock)
Age of Kings
Great Ages of Man
by Charles Blitzer
from Time-Life Books
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Age of Louis XIV
Story of Civilization VIII
by Will & Ariel Durant
from Simon and Schuster
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Age of Napoleon
Story of Civilization XI
by Will Durant
from Simon and Schuster
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Age of Reason Begins
Story of Civilization VII
by Will Durant
from Simon and Schuster
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Age of Voltaire
Story of Civilization IX
by Will & Ariel Durant
from Simon and Schuster
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Aida
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Barry Bart
from Grosset & Dunlap
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in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Air Forces of the World
by Sue Butterworth, editor
from Chartwell Books
for 9th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Aku-Aku
by Thor Heyerdahl
from International Collectors Library
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Aku-Aku
by Thor Heyerdahl
from Rand McNally
for 9th-Adult
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Album of Memories
by Tom Brokaw
from Random House
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Album of the Civil War
by William Loren Katz
from Franklin Watts
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Alchemy, the Ancient Science
by Neil Powell
from Doubleday & Company
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great, Killer of Men
by David J. Lonsdale
from Carroll & Graf Publishers
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
All Hands Aloft!
by Lou A. Schmitt
from Howell-North
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in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
Book Club (BCE/BOMC) from Ballantine Books
War/Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
All Shook Up
Pivotal Moments in American History
by Glenn C. Altschuler
from Oxford University
for Adult
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Amazing Mr. Doolittle
by Quentin Reynolds
from Appleton-Century-Crofts
for 10th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
America 1933
by Michael Golay
from Free Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Air War
by Edward Jablonski
from Time-Life Books
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in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
America the Beautiful/ A Man of Destiny
by the editors of Country Beautiful Magazine
from Country Beautiful
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
America's Heroes
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in War on Terror (Location: HISA-21WT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Caesar
by William Manchester
from Little, Brown & Company
for 10th grade-adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
American Children Through Their Books
by Sister Monica Kiefer
1970 printing from University of Pennsylvania Press
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
for 3rd-Adult
American Fishermen
by Albert Cook Church (photography), text by James B. Connolly
from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the American Revolution
by Bruce Lancaster
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Indian Dances
by John L. Squires & Robert E. McLean
from The Ronald Press Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
by Jon Meacham
from Random House
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Nation
by John D. Hicks
from Riverside Press
for Adult
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
American President
by Philip Kunhardt, Jr., Philip Kunhardt III, Peter Kunhardt
from Riverhead Books
for Adult
in American Presidency (Location: HISV-PRE)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
American Sailing Coasters of the North Atlantic
by Paul C. Morris, foreword by Edouard Stackpole
1979 Reprint from Bonanza Books
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Ship Models and How to Build Them
by V. R. Grimwood, foreword by Howard I. Chapelle
from Bonanza Books
for 9th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Spirit
from LIFE Books
for 9th-Adult
in War on Terror (Location: HISA-21WT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Story
from Curtis Publishing Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
American Story: The Revolutionaries
Time-Life: The American Story
from Time-Life Books
for Adult
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
American Ulysses
by Ronald C. White
from Random House
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth
by M. K. Gandhi
from Navajivan Publishing House
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient America
Great Ages of Man
by Jonathan Norton Leonard
from Time-Life Books
for 9th-Adult
in Great Ages of Man (Location: ADU-HISGAM)
Ancient China
Great Ages of Man
by Edward H. Schafer
from Time-Life Books
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in Great Ages of Man (Location: ADU-HISGAM)
Andersonville
by MacKinlay Kantor
from World Publishing Company
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1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Annotated African American Folktales
by Henry Louis Gates & Maria Tatar
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Annotated Arabian Nights
by Paulo Lemos Horta (editor), translated by Yasmine Seale
from W. W. Norton and Co.
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in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$45.00
Annotated Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
from W. W. Norton and Co.
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Annotated Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant
by Ulysses S. Grant
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
from Paul S. Eriksson, INC.
Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Apollo on the Moon
by Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr.
from Dial Press
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in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Apostle of Liberty
by Stephen McDowell
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
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Arabian Nights
by Sir Richard Burton, trans.
from Bracken Books
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in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Arabian Nights
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Arabian Nights
International Collectors Library
by Sir Richard Burton, illustrated by Steele Savage
from International Collectors Library
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in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Arabian Nights
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$29.99
Arabian Nights
by Sir Richard Burton, trans.
from Book League of America
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Arabian Nights
by Amabel Williams-Ellis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Blackie & Son LTD.
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Arabian Nights
by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, editors, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Book-of-the-Month Club
Eastern Fairy Tales for 9th-Adult
Arabian Nights - Two Volume Set
by Sir Richard Burton (translator), illustrated by Arthur Szyk
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Archko Volume
by Drs. McIntosh and Twyman, translators
Reprint Edition from Keats Publishing, Inc
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Army of the Potomac - 3 Volumes
by Bruce Catton
from Doubleday & Company
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Art and Artists of Russia
by Richard Hare
from Methuen
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Art: Over 2,500 Works from Cave to Contemporary
from DK Publishing
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
Assassins
by Bernard Lewis
from The Folio Society
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
At Home with Madhur Jaffrey
by Madhur Jaffrey
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Adult
in International & Ethnic Cooking (Location: COOK-ETH)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Atlas of Mysterious Places
by Jennifer Westwood, editor
from Weidenfeld & Nicolson
for Adult
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of Oregon
by William G. Loy (director and cartographer), text by Clyde P. Patton
from University of Oregon
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of the Islamic World
by Francis Robinson
from Facts On File
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Atlas of World History
2nd edition from Oxford University
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in Historical & Cultural Atlases (Location: HISRF-ATLAS)
$49.95
August 1914
by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Australia: Beyond the Black Stump
by Gary Lewis
from Peter Antill-Rose
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
World's Greatest Literature
by Benjamin Franklin
from Spencer Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
by Benvenuto Cellini
from International Collectors Library
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$11.50 (1 in stock)
B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
from Holiday House
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Baby Blessing
by Welleran Poltarnees
from Laughing Elephant
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Back Roads of Oregon
by Earl Thollander
from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Back Roads of Washington
by Earl Thollander
from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Bartered Bride
by Robert Lawrence, illustrated by Howard Arnold
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Battle for the Falklands
by Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins
from W. W. Norton and Co.
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in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
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