Timeline of Worthwhile History Reading

On the website this has been replaced, to a certain extent, with Readingyourwaythroughhistory.com
I'm putting it here just to keep it "safe" for the moment.

Timeline of Worthwhile History Reading

Because of our family's strong interest in history and good books, we've been working on this project for several years - of putting together a timeline of worthwhile books (and short stories, essays, etc.) that we've read. We hope that this will help other parents and teachers in putting together a "living books" history curriculum, supplementing textbooks, or simply trying to get a better grasp of history. This list is not intended to be in any way "complete" or constitute some kind of curriculum in and of itself. Although many of these books are written for children, we have learned that these can provide a great deal of wisdom and understanding for adults as well. Eventually we hope to have detailed reviews linked to each title for further information.


An asterisk "*" denotes works of historical fiction.

2500-2401 B.C.
The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt by Elizabeth Payne
*Pyramid by David Macauley (2468-2439 B.C.)
2400-1501 B.C.
*1590 Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton
1500-1401 B.C.
*Mara, Daughter of the Nile, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Gilbin
1400-1301 B.C.
*The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
1300-1201 B.C.
*Hittite Warrior by Joanne Williamson
800-701 B.C.
*God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah by Joanne Williamson
500-401 B.C.
The Story of the Greeks by H.A. Guerber
300-201 B.C.
Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
The Story of the Romans by H.A. Guerber
200-101 B.C.
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky
100 B.C. - 1 B.C.
*City by David Macauley
1 A.D. - 99 A.D.
The Incarnation of Our Lord
The New Testament
*Abigail and the Widow Mary by Noel Trimming
*The Face of the Nazarene by Noel Trimming
Jesus of Nazareth by Mother Mary Loyola
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (on St. Peter - pp. 21-67, 105-110)
*The Spear by Louis de Wohl
Saint Paul the Apostle by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
*The Ides of April by Mary Ray
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (on successors to St. Peter - pp. 68-88, 119-125)
*Beyond the Desert Gate by Mary Ray
100-199 A.D.
Galen and the Gateway to Medicine by Jeanne Bendick
200-299 A.D.
"Saint Sebastian" (d. 288 A.D.) pg. 98, Bk. 6, Catholic National Readers
St. Helena and the True Cross by Louis de Wohl
In This Sign Your Shall Conquer by Foley and Van Ryn
300-399 A.D.
The Daughter of Light by Regina Persian (St. Philomena d. 302)
St. Athanasius by F.A. Forbes325
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (Council of Nicea argument, pp. 126-129)352-366
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (Pope Liberius, pp. 141-147)354-430 Confessions of St. Augustine
400-499 A.D.
404 A.D.
"The Last Fight in the Colosseum" pg. 453 of The Moral Compass
Saint Patrick, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 11-14)
Saint Enda, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 19-20)
Saint Brigid of Ireland, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 29-31)
500-599 A.D.
Saint Brendan the Navigator, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 21-23)
Saint Benedict: Father of the Western Monks by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
Saint Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 15-17)
Saint Finian of Clonard, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 43-46)537-555
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (Pope Vigilius, pp. 148-151)
Saint Kevin of Glendalough, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 65-67)
Saint Colmcille, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 37-41)
St. Comgall of Bangor, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 69-72)
St. Columbanus of Bobbio, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 33-35)
*Fingal's Quest by Madeleine Polland604
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (St. Gregory the Great, pp. 152-157)*Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Willard (d. 605)
600-699 A.D.
625-638 Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (Pope Honorius, pp. 158-162)Saint Kilian, Apostle of Franconia, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 25-27)Saint Hilda of Whitby, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 51-54)
Saint Carthage of Lismore, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 55-56)
Saint Dympna of Gheel, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 61-63)
700-799 A.D.
800-899 A.D.
Beorn the Proud by Madeleine Polland
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (myths about the Middle Ages, pp. 163-177
b. 860 Alfred of Wessex by Frank Morriss
900-999 A.D.
943 The Little Duke by Charlotte Yonge
1000-1099 A.D.
Saint Malachy O Mortair, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 47-49)
Saint Margaret of Scotland, Celtic Heritage Saints (pp. 57-59)
The Crusades by Anthony West (Landmark)
Leif the Lucky by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire (Leif Ericson)
1100-1199 A.D.
1165 The Red Keep by Allen French
1170 If All the Swords in England by Barbara Willard
1170 Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot
1171 *The Hidden Treasure of Glaston by Eleanore Jewett
Saint Dominic and the Rosary by Catherine Beebe
1200-1299 A.D.
Francis: The Poor Man of Assisi by Tomie de Paola
1181-1226 Francis and Clare: Saints of Assisi by Helen Walker Homan
The Lost Baron by Allen French
Saint Elizabeth's Three Crowns by Blanche Thompson (St. Elizabeth of Hungary)
Saint Anthony and the Christ Child by Helen Walker Homan152-1338 *Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction by David Macaulay
St. Louis IX, King of France (1214-1270)
St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274)
1300-1399 A.D.
1347-1380 St. Catherine of Siena by F.A. Forbes)
*The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
1400-1499 A.D.
1400 A Medieval Feast by Aliki
The Sign of the Green Falcon by Cynthia Harnett
King Henry V by William Shakespeare
1412-1431 Joan of Arc by Mark Twain
*The Writing on the Hearth by Cynthia Harnett
Isabella of Spain by William Thomas Walsh
1482 The Cargo of the Madalena by Cynthia Harnett
Columbus by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
1493 *The Merchant's Mark by Cynthia Harnett
1494 "The Sculptor and the Sistine Chapel" pg. 325 of The Moral Compass
1500-1599 A.D.
1531 The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie de Paola
1517-1648 How the Reformation Happened by Hillaire Belloc
1535 A Man for All Seasons movie - 1966
1491-1556 St. Ignatius and the Company of Jesus by August Derleth
1506-1552 St. Francis of the Seven Seas by Albert Nevins
1540-1581Edmund Campion by Evelyn Waugh
Red Hugh, Prince of Donegal by Robert T. Reilly
1515-1595 St. Philip of the Joyous Heart by Francis X. Connolly
1564-1616 William Shakespeare and the Globe by Aliki
1600-1699 A.D.The Outlaws of Ravenhurst by Sister M. Imelda Wallace
I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
1647-1690 Saint Margaret Mary, Apostle of the Sacred Heart by Ruth Fox Hume
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (On Galileo, pp. 178-189)
1700-1799 A.D.
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice D'Algliesh
*A Proper Acadian by Mary Alice Downie and George Rawlyk1
749 "Always Go Forward, and Never Turn Back: Blessed Junipero Serra", Reading Comprehension, Stories of the Saints, Vol. 3, pp. 81-103
The American Revolution
Charles Carroll and the American Revolution by Milton Lomask
George Washington by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
Where was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? by Jean Fritz
Why don't You Get a Horse Sam Adams? by Jean Fritz
And then what Happened Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz
*Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson
The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery
The Swamp Fox of the Revolution by Stewart H. Holbrook
The French Revolution:
*The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baronness Orczy
*The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud Von Le Fort
*A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens1793
"Our Sundays in the French Revolution" pg. 372, Bk. 6, Catholic National Readers
1769-1852 Dear Philippine: The Mission of Mother Duchesne
1800-1899 A.D.
1803 The Louisiana Purchase by Robert Tallant
1803-1805 *The Midshipman Quinn Collection by Showell Styles
1805-1809 * The Flying Ensign by Showell Styles*
1812 Clear for Action by Stephen Meader
1770-1827 "Beethoven's Triumph" pg. 336 of The Moral Compass
1809-1852 "The Boy Who Brought Light into a World of Darkness" pg. 437 of The Moral Compass
1786-1859 The Cure of Ars by Abbe Trochu
1848 "Henry Box Brown's Escape" pg. 309 of The Moral Compass
The First Overland Mail by Robert Pinkerton (Landmark series)
"Lincoln Licks the Bullies" pg. 264 of The Moral Compass
*Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge1860-1861 The Story of the Pony Express by R. Conrad Stein
Civil War Era:1852 "The Conscience of the Nation must be Roused" speech by Frederick Douglas pg. 253 of The Book of Virtues
Abraham Lincoln by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
*Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
1821-1912 "The Angel of the Battlefield" pg. 144 of The Book of Virtues
1863 Gettysburg by Makinlay Kantor (Landmark)
1863 Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Chaplain in Gray, Abram Ryan: Poet-Priest of the Confederacy by H.J. Heagney
1864 Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
1863-1865 Magical Melons by Carol Ryrie Brink
Rose Hawthorne: The Pilgrimage of Nathaniel's Daughter by Arthur and Elizabeth Sheehan (Vision)
St. John Bosco and St. Dominic Savio by Catherine Beebe
Bernadette and the Lady by Hertha Pauli
1866 "With Grateful Joy: Blessed Father Seelos, Reading Comprehension: Stories of the Saints, Vol. 3 pp. 57-801870
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (On the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, pp. 134-140)
Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Mother Cabrini: Missionary to the World by Frances Parkinson Keyes
Noble Heroine of Charity (audio tape)
*The Orphans Find a Home: A St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Story by Joan Stromberg"
Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan" pg. 312 of The Book of Virtues"
Brother to the Lepers" pg. 442 of The Moral Compass (Blessed Father Damien of Molokai)
1836-1918 The Quiet Flame: Mother Marianne of Molokai by Eva K. Betz
Little Therese
1873-1897 The Little Flower by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
St. Therese and the Roses by Helen Walker Homan
1886 The Story of the Statue of Liberty by Natalie Miller (Cornerstones of Freedom)
1900-1999 A.D.
Bully for you, Teddy Roosevelt by Jean Fritz
1912/1986 Exploring the Titanic by Robert D. Ballard (1912)
1912 The Story of the Titanic as Told by its Survivors (Dover Publications)
*The Good Master by Kate Seredy
World War I:
1917 Our Lady of Fatima by William Thomas Walsh
Flying Aces of World War I by Gene Gurney
*The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy
*Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery (part of the Anne of Green Gables series!)
1923 Blessed Miguel Pro by Ann Ball
The Young Life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta by Claire Jordan Mohan
The Young Life of Pope John Paul II by Claire Jordan Mohan
World War II:
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
Richer than a Millionaire by Paul Waldmann
*Journey to America by Sonia Levitin
*Enemy Brothers: A Story of World War II by Constance Savery
1941 St. Maximillian Kolbe
The House of Sixty Fathers by Meendert de Jong
The Shadow of His Wings by Fr. Gereon Goldmann
1941 The Sinking of the Bismarck by William L. Shirer (Landmark)
1942 "Blessed by the Truth: Saint Edith Stein", Reading Comprehension: Stories of the Saints, Vol. 3 pp. 7-31
*Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
A Place to Hide: True Stories of Holocaust Rescues by Jayne Pettit
*The Borrowed House by Hilda Van Stockum
1944 Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop
*The Winged Watchman by Hilda Van Stockum
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
*The Small War of Sergeant Donkey by Maureen Daly
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man who Created The Lord of the Rings by Michael Coren
"The Man Who Broke the Color Barrier" pg. 348 of The Moral Compass (Jackie Robinson 1919-1972)
1961 "Apostle of Life: Blessed Gianna Molla", Reading Comprehension: Stories of the Saints, Vol. 3, pp. 32-56
1992 L.A. Justice: Lessons from the Firestorm by Robert Vernon
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid (Chapters on Pope John Paul II and the modern papacy, pp. 111-118,