Star Wars Timelines

By Kristin Baver, Jason Fry, Cole Horton, Amy Richau and Clayton Sandell. Published by Dorling Kindersley.

This visual guide is incredibly detailed and just stunning, a must-have for any Star Wars fan. Actually, it's a must-have for anyone who's even vaguely interested in Star Wars. Actually, it's a must-have, full stop!

The book's 300-plus pages cover Star Wars history in chronological order, from the early history of the galaxy and the start of the Jedi Order to the fall of the First Order.

The book is divided into seven sections, each focusing on a specific era of the Star Wars story. As you read it, you follow a path which takes you through various events and when they happened. In the dating system, the years are labelled BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) or ABY (After the Battle of Yavin). There are also pages dedicated to notable characters, groups and starships.

There is a lot of information packed in (taken from the films, TV shows, books, comics and video games) so some of the type is quite small. I did find the writing on the darker sections a bit hard to read, but that's my only (very minor) complaint.

I've compiled a brief summary of each section just to get you started...

1 Early History (c. 26,000 - 501 BBY)

This is a small section. It mentions the birth of the Jedi, the formation of the Republic, the dawn of hyperspace travel, the formation of the Sith and the Jedi-Sith war. During this time, Yoda and Jabba the Hutt are born.

2 The High Republic (c. 500 - 100 BBY)

This is the golden age of the Republic, with the leadership working closely with the Jedi. There's the exploration of the Outer Rim. But there are also dangers, like the Nihil (a rather nasty group of marauders) and the Drengir (rather nasty carnivorous plant creatures). There's a special page on the history of the Jedi Order.

3 The Fall of the Jedi (c. 100 - 19 BBY)

Here we have Palpatine (Darth Sidious) gaining power and engineering the Clone Wars, which ultimately leads to the annihilation of the Jedi. This section charts the events of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith and the first season of The Bad Batch. There's Count Dooku's backstory, Order 66, the birth of Luke and Leia, and Anakin's tragic transformation into Darth Vader.

There are also several special pages here on the Naboo monarchy, the Skywalker lightsaber, Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the evolution of the Star Destroyer.

4 The Reign of the Empire (18 - 1 BBY)

We read about Emperor Palpatine and his new Galactic Empire, the Death Star being built, plus the events of Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi. There's also the adventures of Cal Kestis, the rise of Thrawn, the growing rebellion and the formation of the Rebel Alliance, plus the events of Rebels and Rogue One.

The special pages feature the Death Star plans, the Millennium Falcon, rebel cells, the Chiss, and the evolution of the TIE fighter.

5 The Age of Rebellion (0 - 5 ABY)

This section takes us through the original Star Wars trilogy - A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi - along with plenty of details on what happened between the films. There are more stories about Darth Vader, plus the adventures of Doctor Aphra. And of course, things didn't finish after the second Death Star was destroyed. There was still a lot more fighting before peace was eventually declared.

This part of the book takes us through the devastating Operation: Cinder and the Battle of Jakku. The special pages feature Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, the history of the Sith, and Boba Fett after he escapes the Sarlacc.

6 The New Republic (6 - 27 ABY)

Here we have the events of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. There are also details of Luke rebuilding the Jedi Order and taking on his nephew Ben Solo as a student, the birth and early life of Rey, the early life of Captain Phasma, and the formation of the First Order. There's a special page on the Mandalorian.

7 The Rise of the First Order (28 - 35 ABY)

Leia is publicly revealed as Darth Vader's daughter, the Resistance is formed, Ben becomes Kylo Ren, and the First Order gathers strength. We're taken through the events of the Resistance TV series and the three film sequels - The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

There are special pages on the evolution of the stormtrooper, Rey, Leia Organa, and Sheev Palpatine.

Palpatine is finally defeated... or is he?