For people who love history and want the big picture

They taught you history one country at a time. Nobody showed you what was happening everywhere else.

The Same-Time History System is a world timeline for people who love history: 8 regions side by side, from 3500 BC to today. So you can pick any year, look across one page, and finally see what the whole world was doing at that moment.

Everything in The Same-Time History System: Start Here, three volumes, the Same-Time Grid on a laptop, the Finder card, the Wall Timeline and the timeline on a tablet

What you get today

The Same-Time History System

5,000 years · 8 regions · every entry sourced

Turn one page and the whole world is there. Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania, in the same decade. You start with a short guide. Then you read it, print it, or sort it your way.

  • The Same-Time Timeline: 3500 BC to today, 8 regions side by side on every page
  • Every entry links to its source, so you can click and check
  • 9 printable PDFs, one per era, in A4 and US Letter
  • The Same-Time Grid in Excel and Google Sheets: every period across all 8 regions, plus the full sortable list with your own notes
  • Opens in Google Sheets, Apple Numbers or Excel. No macros, nothing to install
  • Vol. 1 Turning Points: the world in 12 moments, told as short stories
  • Vol. 2 Your Ancestors' World: 12 country timelines, 1500 to today
  • Vol. 3 Deep Time: from the Big Bang to the first cities
  • Start Here: a short guide that shows you how to open it and where to begin
  • Pay once. No subscription. Every new version included

✦ Free bonus: The Wall Timeline. 5,000 years to print and hang, with a blank band for your own family.

$27$59— save $32 today

Questions? Email hello@meanwhilehistory.com, we reply within 24 hours · Secure checkout · Instant download · 90-day "See How It All Fits" guarantee

↓ What's inside

One System. Read It, Print It, or Sort It.

Everything is a download that stays yours. Open the timeline first. Go deeper when you want.

Three era openings of The Same-Time Timeline, fanned out

The heart of it

The Same-Time Timeline.

Look across one page and you see one moment, everywhere. 9 PDFs, one per era, from 3500 BC to today, with the 8 regions of the world side by side. Big, clear type, on paper or on a tablet.

  • Start Here: a short guide that gets you reading in 10 minutes
  • The whole world, not just Europe: no region gets more than 1 entry in 4
  • A source for every entry: click and check
The Same-Time Grid scrolling in Google Sheets: every period across all 8 regions

Sort it your way

The Same-Time Grid.

The whole timeline in one spreadsheet: every period in a row, all 8 regions side by side. Scroll through 5,000 years, or switch to the sortable list and filter by year, region or theme.

  • Same-Time Grid: every period across all 8 regions, in the region colours
  • Sortable list: filter by year, region or theme, and add your own notes
  • Opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Apple Numbers. No macros, nothing to install
Vol. 1 Turning Points: the cover and inside pages

Go deeper · Vol. 1

Turning Points: The World in 12 Moments.

Twelve times the world changed in many places at once. Each one is a short story on a double page. The easiest way in.

  • 12 moments, told as short stories
  • What all 8 regions were doing, on every double page
  • Read one in a sitting
Vol. 2 Your Ancestors' World: the cover and the fillable Ancestor Lifeline on a tablet

Go deeper · Vol. 2

Your Ancestors' World: 12 Country Timelines.

Your grandmother was born in 1889. What was happening in her country that year? And in the rest of the world? Now you can see it.

  • 12 country timelines, from 1500 to today
  • England & Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Poland, France, Scandinavia, Mexico, the United States, Canada and Australia
  • A fillable Ancestor Lifeline sheet
Vol. 3 Deep Time: the cover and two inside pages

Go deeper · Vol. 3

Deep Time: From the Big Bang to the First Cities.

Before page one, there are 13.8 billion years. This volume tells them, and joins right onto the first page of the timeline.

  • Stars, the Earth and the dinosaurs
  • The first humans and the ice ages
  • The first farms, up to the first cities
The Wall Timeline poster and the printable sheets

✦ Bonus

The Wall Timeline: 5,000 Years on Your Wall

$19 value — included FREE today

Write your grandmother's name on the wall, and see where her life sits in 5,000 years of history. Print the timeline at home on sheets you tape together. Or send one file to a print shop for a big poster (24×36" or A1). Along the bottom runs a blank "Our Family" band for your parents, grandparents and ancestors. Hang it in a hallway, a study, or wherever the grandkids do homework.

↓ How it works

Start in 3 Simple Steps.

  1. 1

    Order — Secure checkout. Your download link arrives by email in about a minute.

  2. 2

    Open Start Here — It shows you how to open everything on your device, step by step.

  3. 3

    Pick a year — Try 1492. Look across the page. Meanwhile…

Works on: iPad · Android tablet · iPhone · Android phone · Windows · Mac · Chromebook · Paper

5,000 years · 8 regions · one price

Get the Whole Same-Time History System Today

Your download link arrives in about a minute after your order.

Everything in The Same-Time History System: Start Here, three volumes, the Same-Time Grid on a laptop, the Finder card, the Wall Timeline and the timeline on a tablet
  • The Same-Time Timeline: 3500 BC to today, 8 regions side by side on every page
  • Every entry links to its source, so you can click and check
  • 9 printable PDFs, one per era, in A4 and US Letter
  • The Same-Time Grid in Excel and Google Sheets: every period across all 8 regions, plus the full sortable list with your own notes
  • Opens in Google Sheets, Apple Numbers or Excel. No macros, nothing to install
  • Vol. 1 Turning Points: the world in 12 moments, told as short stories
  • Vol. 2 Your Ancestors' World: 12 country timelines, 1500 to today
  • Vol. 3 Deep Time: from the Big Bang to the first cities
  • Start Here: a short guide that shows you how to open it and where to begin
  • Pay once. No subscription. Every new version included

✦ Bonus: The Wall Timeline, to print and hang

✦ Extra: The Same-Time Finder card, to keep by your side

$27$59— save $32 today

The "See How It All Fits" 90-Day Guarantee.

For 90 days: if the system hasn't shown you how history fits together, or a file won't open on your device and we can't fix it, send one email. You get a full refund. No questions, nothing to return.

Questions? Email hello@meanwhilehistory.com, we reply within 24 hours · Secure checkout · Instant download · 90-day "See How It All Fits" guarantee

✦ Extra bonus · $15 value

One More Thing, Free: The Same-Time Finder Card

One look, and you know where you are in 5,000 years. Included free today. A two-sided card to keep next to your tablet or your book. On the front: the 9 eras, which file holds each one, the 8 region colors and the 6 theme symbols. On the back: 24 key dates.

…the Same-Time Finder, free today: $15

The Same-Time Finder card, front and back, next to a phone

✦ Who we are

History Is Usually Told One Country at a Time. We Put It Side by Side.

At school, Rome was one chapter and China was another. Africa and the Americas got a few pages, if that. Nobody showed you what was happening everywhere at once. Us neither. So we built the view we always wanted: one page, one moment, the whole world.

Every line has its source, so you can check it yourself. There is nothing to log into and nothing to renew. You download it, and it's yours. When we add more, you get the new version free. And if you ever spot a mistake, tell us. We'll fix it in the next version.

— Meanwhile History · World history, side by side

What readers are saying

History, Side by Side. In Their Words.

a timeline page open on a tablet on a kitchen table, a mug of tea beside it
Honestly, this is one of those things I didn’t know I needed until I started using it 😂 The side-by-side view is SO much better than looking at history one country at a time.
an old family photograph beside a printed Ancestor Lifeline sheet, half filled in
Really impressed with this. I’ve had other history timelines before, but this one feels much easier to actually use. I can open it, find a period, and just explore.
The “what was happening elsewhere?” idea is brilliant. I’ve already caught myself going down several rabbit holes just because two events lined up in the same year.
an iPad on the arm of a sofa showing a timeline page in large, clear type, reading glasses beside it
I bought this mainly for the genealogy section. It did not disappoint. Being able to put my ancestors’ lives alongside the bigger historical picture makes their stories feel much more real.
Okay... I was NOT expecting to spend two hours looking through a timeline 😅 There’s just something about seeing all the regions next to each other that makes you want to keep checking another year.
Very nice resource. Clean, straightforward, and not overloaded with unnecessary stuff. I especially like having both the printable version and the sortable file.
This completely changed how I think about chronology. School history always felt like:Romans → medieval Europe → Renaissance → etc. Here you can actually see what was happening everywhere at the same time.
I’m a bit of a spreadsheet nerd, so the filterable file was a huge plus for me 😂 Being able to filter by region/theme/year is exactly what I wanted.
BOUGHT IT FOR MY KIDS, ENDED UP USING IT MYSELF
The Deep Time section is fantastic. Going from the Big Bang all the way through dinosaurs, early humans, farming and the first cities gives you such a different sense of scale.
I really like the fact that I can print it. Sounds like a small thing, but having the timeline physically in front of me makes it much easier to understand than scrolling through a website.
Not gonna lie, the first thing I did was jump straight to 1492 and look across the page  And then I picked another date... and another...
This is exactly what I was hoping for. Not another giant list of historical facts something that actually helps you see the connections between them.
I’m using this with my grandchildren and they LOVE asking what was happening “over there” while we’re looking at something familiar here. Unexpectedly good conversation starter ❤️
The sources on the entries are a really nice touch. I like being able to follow something interesting instead of just taking the timeline at face value.
I’ve always found world history difficult to keep straight because everything gets taught separately. This makes it click a lot more. Simple idea, very effective.
10/10 for the concept. The first few pages were enough to make me realize how much history I’ve been mentally storing as completely separate events when they were actually happening at the same time.
I’m usually not a “print things out” person, but the wall timeline got me 😂We printed it, put it up, and now everyone keeps adding little family dates underneath it.
One of my favorite things about this is that you can use it differently depending on what you’re looking for.Want a quick overview? PDF. Want to dig into data? Spreadsheet. Want something on the wall? Yep.
This is really well thought out. Especially the fact that it doesn’t make you read from page 1 to page 500. You can just pick a year/person/region and start there.
I LOVE the “meanwhile...” idea. You see an event you know, then look across the page and suddenly there are five completely different stories happening at the same time.
As someone who loves family history, this is right up my street. The ancestor lifeline is such a simple idea but it adds a lot.
Much easier to use than I expected.I was worried it would be one of those huge historical resources where you need an hour just to figure out where to start. The Start Here section solves that nicely.
The science + arts section at the bottom of the pages is a great idea. It’s one of those details you might not notice immediately, then suddenly you’re checking it on every page.
I’ve used it on my iPad, printed pages, and played around with the spreadsheet. No weird software, no complicated setup. That matters to me.
Okay this is dangerous for procrastinators 😂 “I’ll just check what was happening in 1200.” ...45 minutes later...
I appreciate how balanced the whole thing feels. It actually feels like world history rather than European history with a few other places added around the edges.
Very cool concept
Bought it because I’m a history fan. Kept using it because I kept finding things I didn’t know.That’s probably the best compliment I can give it.
I’ve looked at a lot of timelines over the years and this is probably the format I’ve found most useful. It doesn’t try to make history feel like one long straight line. It shows you the world happening simultaneously — which, obviously, is how it actually happened. And somehow that makes everything make more sense.

Questions Before You Order?

Any questions? Email hello@meanwhilehistory.com. We reply within 24 hours.

Will it work on my iPad or my phone?

Yes. The timeline and the volumes are PDFs, so they open on any iPad, tablet, phone or computer. The sortable file opens in Google Sheets or Apple Numbers, both free. The Start Here guide shows you how, device by device. And if a file won't open and we can't fix it, you get your money back.

I'm not good with computers. Is this for me?

Yes. If you can open an email attachment, you can open this. There's nothing to install, no account and no password. Start Here walks you through your first 10 minutes. And if you prefer paper, print it.

Do I need Excel?

No. You don't need Excel or any paid program. The PDFs open anywhere. The sortable file works in Google Sheets (free), Apple Numbers (free), or Excel if you have it. No macros, no security warnings.

Isn't all this free on Wikipedia?

The facts are out there. The order isn't. Online you get one topic at a time, in forty open tabs. This puts every region side by side, one decade at a time, and links each line back to its source. You get the big picture in one look.

Is it only about Europe?

No. That's the whole point. The world is split into 8 regions, and every page shows all 8. No region gets more than 1 entry in 4, and none gets less than 1 in 15. The chart is in your Start Here guide.

Where do the entries come from? Can I trust them?

Every entry links to the page it comes from, like encyclopedia articles and national archives. Click and check. If you ever find a mistake, email us. We'll check it and fix it in the next version, which you get free.

Can I print it?

Yes. Every PDF prints clean on A4 or US Letter at home. The Wall Timeline prints on sheets you tape together, or as one big poster at a print shop.

How do I get it, and what about updates?

Right after checkout, you get an email with your download link, usually in about a minute. Download it once and it's yours. No login, no subscription. When we add entries, countries or fixes, you get the new version free, by email.

How many entries are there?

Thousands, across all 8 regions, from 3500 BC to today. But we didn't chase the biggest number. We kept each page easy to read, with big type and a limit per decade, so you can actually use it. Every new version adds more.

Is it good for kids?

It's written for adults, in plain English. Older kids can use it with you, and the Wall Timeline is the easiest way to start together.

What if it's not for me?

You have 90 days. If the system hasn't shown you how history fits together, or a file won't open on your device and we can't fix it, send one email. Full refund. No questions, nothing to return.

Have more questions?

Email hello@meanwhilehistory.com and we'll reply within 24 hours, usually much faster.