The Annals of the World

Annals of the World is a literary masterpiece. It was originally published in Latin in the mid seventeenth century, and subsequently in English. This version is the most recent English translation (2003), for which I am grateful since my Latin is wholly inadequate for the task. The tome chronicles the history of the world from Creation to the death of Christ. This modern work was edited by Larry and Marion Pierce and the particular edition I reference is beautifully bound and thoroughly annotated. It also comes with a CD having many extras including depicted chronologies, bible synopses, and a historical summary of Egyptian and Olympic history,among other things. The text is also supported by several useful appendices including a bibliography, various calendars, time-line reconstructions, maps, a detailed index by paragraph (paragraphs are numbered in the text), and a defense of a young earth. This last point is worth elaboration. James Ussher famously, and to much modern derision, calculated the creation of the earth as occurring on September 21, 4004 B.C (using the modern Gregorian Calendar). This appears to be too young -- modern civilization is generally regarded as beginning about 10,000 B.C., the age of Homo sapiens as occurring circa 200,000 B.C., and the age of the earth as roughly 4.5 billion B.C. The debate about the age of the earth is a very ancient one, with certain Greek philosophers arguing that the earth is infinitely old and others arguing that it had a definite beginning. With the discovery of cosmic background radiation the scientific consensus has now embraced a Big Bang view of cosmology demanding a definite starting point for the universe and subsequent earth. Although the Big Bang has only been recently accepted, philosophically, an infinitely old universe was ruled out from ancient times with (what I believe to be a sound) philosophical argument that if the earth were infinitely old, no amount of time would be sufficient to arrive at "now." Curiously, before the advent of Darwin's evolutionary theory in the mid nineteenth century, the general scientific consensus was in general accord with Ussher's calculations. Since then, scientists (including Christians among them) have largely embraced an old earth, though others have consistently held to a young earth of 10,000 years or less. With respect to the former, supposed gaps in genealogy are used to reconcile Biblical and secular creation dates -- an argument I find unpersuasive. Regardless, Ussher's history is quite accurate in its chronicle of historically recorded events -- the thrust of this 960 page volume. Ussher was a first rate scholar, historian, and intellectual, and his work was monumental and influential. For that reason, he is worth reading and recommended as an asset to any organized library.

First of all, this is the best history book I've ever read. It's also the only one that includes Biblical events in the order that they happened. It doesn't replace God's Word, but it's excellent at putting the dates and events in perspective. Everything in it is referenced, cited, or otherwise quoted. For something written in 1650, it's really timeless, as history doesn't change that much. Ussher takes the position that God created everything in seven days - literal days - and even calculates the precise first date of Creation. Now, whether that's an accurate date or not, I don't know, but it's fascinating nevertheless. From that point forward, he chronicles history based on time periods and events given in the Bible and by other historians, including both Biblical and extra-Biblical events on the same timeline. Ultimately, whether you're a historian, a Bible-buff, or simply someone interested in Biblical history, this book is worth it one-hundred percent. If nothing else, this will reveal things in the Bible that you probably didn't know about - like the fact that Jephthah, one of Israel's judges, sacrificed his daughter as a result of a rash vow he made; or that God cursed King Jehoram, a wicked king of Judah, so that his bowels would fall out and he would then die. I cannot rate the physical book, as I have the Kindle version, which seems to work well. Aside from some occasional font size errors, it's great, but hard to flip to references and such. This book will give you a new respect for the Bible and hopefully make you want to read it much more!

I read this History by Bishop Ussher because it was recommended by Sir Isaac Newton in his Historical work where he took the pains to correct some of the ancient writers like Herodotus, Menethos, and others. After 5 years starting during Covid of 2020, I finished, January 4 2026. If you want to get a good overview of ancient history, you have to start with this work. The Other work along with this, that I would recommend would be “ Ancient History of the World by Wise Baurer “. But this work could be all you need! History seems to work in the cycles written in this Master Piece of a work. The Modern World makes a lot more sense when we see it through the eyes of the Ancients. King Solomon said it best “What has been shall be again”. FINIS

This is amazing.

This book has supplemented my historical studies. As an archbisop of course Ussher would certainly have Biblical perspective but it is not solely written that way. Ussher uses many non-biblical references in his compilation. He took great care and poured a lot of his life into this to give people in his era and beyond a snapshot of what he saw and believed in at the time of his life and before. Because he is attempting to frame an answer to a divine question do not expect that all will agree with him. The creation of The World has been a subject of study and debate for thousands of years. Great care was taken to date events as accurately as possible. Considering it was written in 1650 (and the limited resources Ussher had) I am amazed at the accuracy. Ussher took great care to minimize editorializing and most of the editorializing that goes on is that of the authors of the cited works. If you want a chronological recording of history gathered in one book you could do far worse than this. This is not a book for light reading. If you a looking for a light pleasant read this is not your book. But if you are a student of history and appreciate the efforts of a dedicated scholar to record events as faithfully as he could determine you will find this book most appealing. This is a treasured book in my library and it is one I give to special friends.

This a beautiful edition. Thank you, Masterbooks, for translating this essential work and presenting it in such a rich binding. The edition is as classic as the content itself. It is hardcover, with gilt edges and a cover illustrated with a ship in sail, also inlaid with gold colour. This is a lot of book. Though nobody is infallible, Ussher's chronology has stood the test of four hundred years, and is still highly regarded among creationist circles today.

I was so pleased to find this amazing book at such a reasonable price. It arrived a little ahead of time and us in great condition.

very useful for study

It’s a thick book! Throughly enjoying reading it... has scripture reference, which I’m thankful for so I can dig deeper ... into Gods word... while seeing the timeline...

Great reference book.