FASA Games, Inc.

Hey I'm new to earthdawn but want to have more knowledge of the lands what edition of of world books should I get and any recommendations?

I'm reading the third edition books where available, first edition if not.
The timeline is after the war these books describe however.

The timeline is all that's changed, and ED4GMG is all the details anyone has on the new timeline. I highly recommend the Adept's Way and Denizens books, which are reprinted nicely in ED3PC and Namegivers of Barsaive, respectively. The Barsaive Boxed Set is fantastic as well because of the poster sized map and the two booklets it contains on exploring Barsaive.

In addition to the Denizens, I always recommend the Serpent River book. Even if some of the powers structures have changed, it really gives a lot of information about the whole province. Throal is almost completely out of date, and the Crystal Raiders is not easily used because the trolls are so isolated - although both are great books. The Blood Wood and Cara Fahd are probably useful as written.