Book List for World History: Middle Ages

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Necessary Books:

Optional Resources:

You will build a timeline and a notebook with your children this year. The following resources are not necessary but can simplify things.

High School Books:

  • Eusebius: The Church History, by Paul L. Maier (Kregel Publications: 1999).
  • Foxe’s Christian Martyrs of the World, by John Foxe, compiled by Moody Press (out of print).
  • History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon. Free at http://www.ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/volume1/index.htm
  • Ancient Rome: How It Affects You Today, by Richard J. Maybury (Bluestocking Press: 2004).

Optional Read-Aloud Books:

The following optional books are scheduled to be read aloud.

  • Otto of the Silver Hand, by Howard Pyle Week 21
  • The Great and Terrible Quest, by Margaret Lovett Week 23
  • The Ramsay Scallop, by Frances Temple Week 25
  • The Door in the Wall, by Marguerite De Angeli Week 31
  • Joan of Arc, by Nancy Wilson Ross Week 32

Books to Borrow from the Library and Read Independently:

There are many more excellent resources and books which you may wish to purchase or borrow from the library to read aloud to your children or assign for independent reading.

The following is a list of optional books that could be read aloud as a family or assigned as additional reading to older students while studying the Middle Ages with World History Year 3.

Please note: Most, if not all, of these books contain things such as Catholicism, references to mythology, references to pagan holidays such as Christmas and Easter, and more. This is the nature of the Middle Ages! We urge you to read these books as a family or to at least discuss the books thoroughly!

All Ages:

  • Roman Britain: Internet-Linked (Usborne History of Britain) by Ruth Brocklehurst (Usborne Books: 2006) Week 7
  • The Sword in the Tree, by Clyde Robert Bulla Week 15
  • The Life of Saint Patrick, by Quentin Reynolds Week 15
  • King Arthur and His Knights, by Mabel Louise Robinson Week 15
  • The Shining Company, by Rosemary Sutcliff Week 15
  • Knights and Castles: Things to Make and Do (Usborne, 2006). Weeks 17 and 18
  • Men in Armor: The Story of Knights and Knighthood by Richard Suskind (Norton: 1968) Week 18
  • Castle, by David Macauley (Graphia, 1982) Week 18
  • How Would You Survive As a Viking? by Jacqueline Morley Week 19
  • Hakon of Rogen’s Saga, by Erik Christian Haugaard Week 19
  • King Alfred’s Viking, by Charles W. Whistler Week 19
  • Raiders from the Sea, by Lois Walfrid Johnson Week 19
  • Cathedral, by David Macauley (Graphia, 1981) Week 21
  • Elvina’s Mirror, by Sylvie Weil Week 23
  • The Knight’s Handbook, by Christopher Gravett Week 24
  • Robin Hood, by J. Walker McSpadden (illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt) Week 26
  • Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam, by Diane Stanley Week 27
  • The Magna Carta, by James Daugherty Week 28
  • In Freedom’s Cause, by G.A. Henty Week 30
  • The Apple and the Arrow, by Mary and Conrad Buff Week 31
  • The Black Arrow, by Robert Louis Stevenson Week 36
  • Morning Star of the Reformation, by Andy Thomson Week 36
  • Beggar’s Bible, by Louise Vernon Week 36

High School:

  • The Outcast (Kathryn Lasky) Week 7
  • The Eagle of the Ninth (Rosemary Sutcliff) Week 7
  • Between the Forest and the Hills (Ann Lawrence) Week 7
  • The Holy Roman Empire and Charlemagne in World History, by Jeff Sypeck (Enslow Publishers: 2002) Week 17
  • Men in Armor: The Story of Knights and Knighthood by Richard Suskind (Norton: 1968) Week 18
  • Wulf the Saxon (by G.A. Henty) Week 20
  • A Taste of Chaucer: Selections from the Canterbury Tales, edited by Anne Malcolmson Week 23
  • God’s Troubadour: St. Francis of Assisi, by Sophie Jewett Week 25
  • Little Flowers of St. Francis, by Francis of Assisi Week 25
  • The Crusades, by Anthony West Week 26
  • George for England, by G.A. Henty Week 32