Star Wars: The New Essential Chronology

This is the best New Essential Guide I've seen. It is comprehensive to say the least. Unlike some other guides, they waited until the saga was complete. It covers absolutely everything up to the Swarm War (Dark Nest Trilogy). The illustrations are unique and beautiful. Everything you want to know about Star Wars history is right there, organized and easy to read.

Now that George Lucas has completed Episodes I, II, and III of the "Star Wars" saga, it is time to take a moment and put together all of the pieces into a comprehensive chronology that account for everything in the "Star Wars" universe from the Pre-Republic Era to the Killik Expansion (so the chronology goes 35-36 years beyond the end of the original "Star Wars" movie). The six movies are at the heart of everything, but there are all those novels, comic books, and graphic novels, not to mention references to historical events that can be fleshed out. Putting everything in order is what "Star Wars: The New Essential Chronology" is all about. With text by Daniel Wallace, with Kevin J. Anderson, this "new" version is updated for "The Phantom Menace," "Attack of the Clones," "Revenge of the Sith," and the new Jedi order. It also has dozens of full-color illustrations by Mark Chiarello, Tommy Lee Edwards, and John Van Fleet, who distinct styles certainly complement each other. Ever since the hologram of Princess Leia named Obi-Wan Kenobi as her only hope and mentioned the Clone Wars fans of "Star Wars" have been trying to expand their knowledge of that galaxy far, far away in a time long ago. The history of the "Star Wars" universe is divided into a dozen parts: (1) Tales of the Ancient Republic; (2) The Fall of the Republic, which includes films I-III; (3) The Empire and the New Order; (4) Profiles in History of Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and the Skywalkers; (5) The Galactic Civil War, which covers the original trilogy; (6) Birth of the New Republic; (7) Empire Resurgent; (8) The Return of the Jedi Knights; (9) Uprisings and Insurgencies; (10) A Lasting Peace; (11) Generations of Jedi Knights; and (12) The New Jedi Order. The attempt by Wallace, with Anderson, is to write history rather than tell stories, although the result falls pretty much somewhere in between. If you want to now what happened before, in between, and after the two movie trilogies, then this chronology certainly does tells you what you need to know. The dating convention employed in the chronology uses the Battle of Yavin as its zero point, treating the destruction of the first Death Star and the dawning of "a new hope" for the people of the galaxy as the symbolic beginning of the current society. Therefore events preceding that point in time are indicated B.B.Y., and those afterwards as A.B.Y. The only real complaint here is that you have to go to the "Star Wars" web site to track down the extensive list of historical resources, so unless you are as well versed in the various "Star Wars" novels, comic books, and computer games as you are in the twin movie trilogies, you are not going to know where Wallace and Anderson are getting all of the puzzle pieces. So you have a couple of hoops to jump through to even find out whether there is a story about the Battle of Dreighton or the death of Zsinj to track down let alone to read. There is a four-page index, so that if y

The authors have done an EXCELLENT job of compiling the VAST amount of information presented in both the films and the expanded universe. They have seamlessly and consistently intertwined the information to create what is the equivalent of a history textbook of the Star Wars universe. The information is concise, while being thorough and informative. This book is perfect for those like myself who love everything about Star Wars, but don't want to set and read every single novel and comic or play every single video game. This book is also perfect for those who have read everything, but may need their memories refreshed. So, in conclusion, I guess you could say this book is perfect for ANY fan!

After reading the Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Characters, I was really looking forward to getting my hands on the The New Essential Chronology. As far as I'm concerned, Daniel Wallace did a great job compiling all the important bits and pieces of Star Wars history into one complete volume. A great book for those of us that do not necessarily have the time to read every single Star Wars novel in the market. I'm one of them. RPG gamers would also benefit from this book as it details the major events of the Star Wars timeline, making it a highly resourceful book for Players and Game Masters alike. I enjoyed it tremendously and would not hesitate to recommend this book to fans of Star Wars or those who would like to know more about George Lucas' masterful sci-fi creation. In my opinion, this book is much easier to read compared to the Star Wars Encyclopedia.

This book is problably the most complete guide ever made. Has entire sections of time not discussed in movies (The Golden Age of the Sith, The New Jedi Order, etc.). Also includes many little-known Clone Wars battles that are very interesting (The Dark Reaper Project, Battle of Kamino, Defense of Naboo, The Battles of Lianna and Tehr, Fortress of Axion, Muunilnist, Brentaal,Null, Haruun Kal, the list goes on). Goes from up to 100,000 years before battle of Yavin to 36 years after. Also, the art is wonderfully done by Tommy Lee Edwards and the portraits look like pictures by Mark Chiarello. Just an excellent book that I'll problably read about 50 times or so. Definitely, a MUST buy (and well worth the cover price too.)