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Literature by Period

In the West we have what is called a teleological view of history. That means that the scope of human civilization and events, from its earliest time till now, is actually going someplace. Whether that place is Ragnarok, Armageddon, the New Jerusalem, or an alien apocalypse depends on which worldview you're espousing, but it's hard for people with European heritage to think in terms of the circularity of history, or that history is going nowhere, just on an on and on into the infinite future.

As Christians, we believe history is on its way to Christ. That may be a little simplistic, but ultimately God has ordered and guided history according to His will for it, and its completion is entirely in His hands....but only after the intended progression of events has been completed. If this is true, history can be seen, not merely as endless repetition, but as a line drawn between point A and some as yet indistinguishable (from a human perspective) point B.

The literature of any period, therefore, can only be understood by the particular historical stage and cultural context in which it was written. If history isn't stagnant, literature can't be either, and any writer is going to reflect (consciously or unconsciously) the attitudes prevalent around him. If you didn't know Cervantes was mocking the "courtly love" and chivalric ideals of Medieval Europe, Don Quixote wouldn't make near as much sense. A lot of Shakespeare's references are to cultural customs he witnessed. Charles Dickens includes so many scenes of social injustice because the England of his day was rife with oppression and mistreatment.

This intersection of history and literature isn't one-directional. To really understand history, it's essential to read the literature of the day. Sure, a history book published last year about the Roman Empire might yield plenty of good information, but reading Caesar's Gallic Wars will not only offer a firsthand perspective, it will also reveal a lot of contemporary attitudes most historians find it difficult to capture. A list of similar examples would require several books, and believe me, they exist.

We've chosen specific periods as categories both to reflect the generally accepted important literary and historical epochs, and based on how many books from each period we carry. If your favorite period isn't immediately recognizable on the list, you might just have to look a little deeper—for instance, we don't have a category for books written in China during the Boxer Rebellion, but that doesn't mean we don't have books that meet that criteria. Okay, we don't, but we have plenty of other titles representing the full scope of literary history from the ancients to the postmodern age.

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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Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Sidney Paget
100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.31
Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton
from SeaWolf Press
for 10th-Adult
1921 Pulitzer Prize winner
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$10.99
Agnes Grey
by Anne Bronte, Illustrated by Edmund Dulac
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, Illustrated by John Tenniel
from SeaWolf Press
Fantasy for 2nd-7th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.76
Animal Farm
by George Orwell
from Plume Books
Utopian/Dystopian Literature for 6th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Apostolic Fathers
by J. B. Lightfoot
from Apocryphile Press
for Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$33.14
Around the World in 80 Days
by Jules Verne, Translated by George M. Towle
Illustrated Fir from SeaWolf Press
Adventure for 6th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.99
Betrothed
by Alessandro Manzoni
REPRINT Edition from Living Book Press
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Black Arrow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Frances Brundage
from Living Book Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Black Tulip
by Alexandre Dumas
from Living Book Press
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.19
Bondage of the Will
by Martin Luther, translated by Henry Cole
from Feather Trail Press
for Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Bridge of San Luis Rey
by Thornton Wilder
from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
1928 Pulitzer Prize Winner
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.61
Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Chivalry
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.04
Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Chivalry and Legends of Charlemagne
by Thomas Bulfinch
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$13.59
Bulfinch's Mythology: The Legends of Charlemagne
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.19
Call of the Wild
by Jack London, illustrated by Philip R. Goodwin & Charles Livingston Bull
from SeaWolf Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Captains Courageous
by Rudyard Kipling
from Living Book Press
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.64
Catriona (David Balfour)
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.16
Clipper of the Clouds
by Jules Verne
from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Common Sense
Dover Thrift Editions
by Thomas Paine
from Living Book Press
Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Discovery of Guiana
by Walter Raleigh
from Living Book Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$6.99
Dracula
by Bram Stoker
from SeaWolf Press
for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Emma
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.01
Enchanted April
by Elizabeth von Arnim, afterword by Ulrich Baer
from Warbler Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$11.95
First Men in the Moon
by H. G. Wells
100th Anniversary Edition from SeaWolf Press
for 7th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Five Weeks in a Balloon
by Jules Verne, translated by William Lackland and illustrated by Edouard Riou
Illustrated Fir from SeaWolf Press
for 5th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$10.95
Food of the Gods
by H.G. Wells
from SeaWolf Press
for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley
from Living Book Press
Horror for 7th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
From the Earth to the Moon
by Jules Verne, Translated by Louis Mercer & Eleanor King
Illustrated 1874 from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.95
Golden Age
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from SeaWolf Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.76
Great Gatsby and Winter Dreams
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
His Last Bow
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 6th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Hound of the Baskervilles
by Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by Sidney Paget
100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 7th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Illustrated Wreck of the Whaleship Essex
by Owen Chase
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.18
In the Days of the Comet
by H. G. Wells
from SeaWolf Press
for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Invisible Man
by H. G. Wells, illustrated by Louis Strimpl
from SeaWolf Press
Science Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Ivanhoe
by Sir Walter Scott, Illustrated by Frank E. Schoonover
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, Illustrated by F. H. Townsend
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.86
Journey to the Center of the Earth
by Jules Verne, illustrated by Edouard Riou
2nd edition from SeaWolf Press
Science Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Louis Rhead
from SeaWolf Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Living Book Press
Historical Romance for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.19
Kim
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Rudyard Kipling
from Living Book Press
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Land of Mist
from SeaWolf Press
for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Last of the Mohicans
Leatherstocking Tales #2
by James Fenimore Cooper, Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Action/Adventure Novel for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Leave it to Psmith
by P. G. Wodehouse
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Humor for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$25.99
Life and Death of Cormac the Skald
by W. G. Collingwood
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
$6.79
Life of King Alfred
by Asser
from Living Book Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$5.94
Lives from Plutarch
by John McFarland, Pleasant Graves, Audrey Graves
from Hillside Education
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Lorna Doone
by R. D. Blackmore
from Living Book Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$18.69
Lost World
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by Harry Rountree
100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 9th grade-adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.01
Master of the World
by Jules Verne
from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by Sidney Paget
100th Anniversary Edition from SeaWolf Press
for 7th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.31
Men Against the Sea
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$21.99 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Missionary Travels
by David Livingstone
from Living Book Press
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$22.99
Mysterious Island
by Jules Verne, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
from SeaWolf Press
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$13.56
Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Notes from Underground
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, translated by Constance Garnett
2023 Reprint from Unknown Publisher
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Old-Fashioned Girl
by Louisa May Alcott, Illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith
150th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$10.95
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Penrod
by Booth Tarkington
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.19
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
by Mark Twain
from Living Book Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$15.29
Persuasion
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by Eugene Dete & Paul Thiriat
1910 Illustrated from SeaWolf Press
Mystery and Suspense for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
Facsimile Ed from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$16.11
Pitcairn's Island
by Charles Nordhoff & James Normal Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$21.99
Plato's Meno with Introduction
by Plato, translated by Benjamin Jowett
from Serenity Publishers
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$2.40 (4 in stock)
Plutarch Project Volume 2
by Anne E. White
from Anne E. White
for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Plutarch Project Volume 3
by Anne E. White
from Anne E. White
for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Practice of the Presence of God
by Brother Lawrence
from Living Book Press
for 11th-Adult
in Spiritual Disciplines (Location: XCL-SPDI)
$4.99
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$10.16
Pygmalion
by George Bernard Shaw
from Warbler Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane & Ambrose Bierce
from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Return of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by Sidney Paget
1905 Illustrated from SeaWolf Press
for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.31
Rights of Man
by Thomas Paine
from Living Book Press
for 10th grade-adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
from SeaWolf Press
for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.99
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe
from Living Book Press
for 5th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$11.89
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from SeaWolf Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.99
Ruth
by Elizabeth Gaskell
from Living Book Press
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.44
Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.73
Sign of Four
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1892 Illustrated from SeaWolf Press
Mystery for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.61
Song of Hiawatha
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
South
by Ernest Shackleton
100th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Expedition Memoir for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$10.16
South
by Ernest Shackleton
from Living Book Press
Expedition Memoir for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Spell of the Yukon
by Robert W. Service
from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.61
Stories From Livy
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
History for 6th-9th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$10.16
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Signet Classics
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Living Book Press
Mystery/Suspense for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Study in Scarlet
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by George Hutchinson
1891 Illustrated from SeaWolf Press
Mystery for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Swiss Family Robinson
by Johann Wyss, illustrated by Louis Rhead
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Stories/Adventure for 5th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.95
Tale of a Tub
by Jonathan Swift
from Unknown Publisher
for 11th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Tales of the Alhambra
by Washington Irving
from Living Book Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.89 $6.40 (1 in stock)
Tenant of Wildfell Hall
by Anne Bronte, Illustrated by Edmund Dulac
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.01
The Fall
by Albert Camus
from Unknown Publisher
for 9th-Adult
in Clearance: Literature (Location: ZCLE-LIT)
$2.00 (8 in stock)
The Stranger
by Albert Camus, translated by Daniel Ortega
from Unknown Publisher
for 9th-Adult
in Clearance: Literature (Location: ZCLE-LIT)
$2.00 (9 in stock)
Through the Looking-Glass
by Lewis Carroll, Illustrated by John Tenniel
from SeaWolf Press
for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.76
Time Machine
by H. G. Wells
100th Anniversary Edition from SeaWolf Press
for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.61
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Louis Rhead
from SeaWolf Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Living Book Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
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