History of Warcraft

The History of Warcraft, also known as the Warcraft universe, is a comprehensive account of lore created by Blizzard as background information to the World of Warcraft universe, and is made up of the entirety of Blizzard's published record so far. The full text is available on the official World of Warcraft site. Additionally, most of this material can be read within the game itself as in-game books.

Want to know more about the lore of World of Warcraft? Although the game doesn't require any prior knowledge of Warcraft lore to enjoy, you may appreciate the broader understanding of the setting and characters in the game that you will gain from learning about the lore. Here are some resources that are available:

History of Warcraft
Note: Certain parts of the History section are outdated and may therefore conflict with other pieces of lore or stories. They plan on updating this section someday to bring it up to date.

Timeline

 * Timeline (from official site)

Chapter I: Mythos

 * The Titans and the Shaping of the Universe (in-game Mythology of the Titans)
 * Sargeras and the Betrayal
 * The Old Gods and the Ordering of Azeroth
 * Charge of the Dragonflights
 * The Waking World and the Well of Eternity
 * The War of the Ancients
 * The Sundering of the World
 * Mount Hyjal and Illidan's Gift
 * The World Tree and the Emerald Dream
 * Exile of the High Elves
 * The Sentinels and the Long Vigil

Chapter II: The New World

 * The Founding of Quel'Thalas
 * Arathor and the Troll Wars
 * The Guardians of Tirisfal
 * Ironforge - the Awakening of the Dwarves
 * The Seven Kingdoms
 * Aegwynn and the Dragon Hunt
 * War of the Three Hammers
 * The Last Guardian

Chapter III: The Doom of Draenor

 * Kil'jaeden and the Shadow Pact
 * Rise of the Horde

Chapter IV: Alliance And Horde

 * The Dark Portal and the Fall of Stormwind
 * The Alliance of Lordaeron
 * The Invasion of Draenor
 * The Birth of the Lich King
 * Icecrown and the Frozen Throne
 * The Battle of Grim Batol
 * Lethargy of the Orcs
 * The New Horde
 * War of the Spider
 * Kel'Thuzad and the Forming of the Scourge
 * The Alliance Splinters

Chapter V: Return of the Burning Legion

 * The Scourge of Lordaeron
 * Sunwell - The Fall of Quel'Thalas
 * Archimonde's Return and the Flight to Kalimdor
 * The Battle of Mount Hyjal
 * The Betrayer Ascendant
 * Rise of the Blood Elves
 * Civil War in the Plaguelands
 * The Lich King Triumphant
 * Old Hatreds - The Colonization of Kalimdor

Official Web Site
Samples of online official World of Warcraft lore for one's reading enjoyment.

Encyclopedia
"Since the release of the first Warcraft game, the lore of the Warcraft universe has been evolving and expanding at an incredible rate. Today, Warcraft lore is spread across four games and three expansions as well as a number of novels, a pen-and-paper roleplaying game, and even a manga series. Now you can find all there is to know about Warcraft in one official source of all things Warcraft: The Warcraft Encyclopedia. In time we hope it will grow to be the ultimate resource for all your Warcraft story and lore needs." Lack of recent update activity (as of early 2008) seems to indicate that Blizzard has either put this project on hold or temporarily removed resources committed to expanding it.
 * Warcraft Encyclopedia

World of Warcraft

 * The Murlocs
 * The War Effort
 * The War of the Shifting Sands
 * The Road to Damnation
 * Troll Compendium
 * The Undead Plague

The Burning Crusade

 * Unbroken
 * The Story So Far ( Then and Now: Conflict and Triumph in the World of Warcraft )
 * Shamans and Paladins
 * Blood Elf History
 * Draenei History

Wrath of the Lich King

 * The Story So Far
 * Glory

Cataclysm

 * The Story So Far
 * In the Shadow of the Sun
 * Heart of War
 * Lord of his Pack
 * Trade Secrets of a Trade Prince
 * Fire and Iron
 * The Judgment

Previous Warcraft games
The single-player Warcraft III campaigns and the accompanying game manuals provide a wealth of information about events in the world of Azeroth.


 * Warcraft: Orcs and Humans
 * Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
 * Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal (Expansion Pack)
 * Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition
 * Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
 * Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (Expansion Pack)

Novels

 * World of Warcraft: Night of the Dragon
 * World of Warcraft: Beyond the Dark Portal
 * World of Warcraft: Tides of Darkness
 * World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde
 * World of Warcraft: Cycle of Hatred
 * Warcraft: War of the Ancients Trilogy, Book Three: The Sundering
 * Warcraft: War of the Ancients Trilogy, Book Two: The Demon Soul
 * Warcraft: War of the Ancients Trilogy, Book One: The Well of Eternity
 * Warcraft: The Last Guardian
 * Warcraft: Lord of the Clans
 * Warcraft: Day of the Dragon

EBooks

 * Warcraft: Of Blood and Honor

Manga

 * Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy Volume III: Ghostlands
 * Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy Volume II: Shadows of Ice
 * Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy Volume I: Dragon Hunt

RPG
Warcraft Role-Playing Games provide a wealth of information about Warcraft lore.


 * World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; Monster Guide book
 * World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; Horde Player's Guide book
 * World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; Alliance Player's Guide book
 * World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; Lands of Mystery book
 * World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; More Magic and Mayhem book
 * World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game corebook
 * Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; Shadows &amp; Light book
 * Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; Lands of Conflict book
 * Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; Magic &amp;Mayhem book
 * Dungeons & Dragons Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; Alliance &amp; Horde Compendium book
 * Dungeons & Dragons Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game &mdash; Manual of Monsters book
 * Dungeons &amp; Dragons Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game corebook