Outlying the Flashbacks in the Book of Mormon

When reading the Book of Mormon, the sequencing of events can sometimes get a little confusing. While at first glance, there is a chronological order to many of the events (from Lehi's escape into the wilderness in 600 BC to Moroni's ending words in 421 AD) - there are, in fact, several flashbacks and one flashfoward that sometimes can confuse many readers. If you look at the Other Information/Appendices -  Book of Mormon Characteristics, you can see from the timelines that there are actually four flashbacks and one flashfoward as outlined here:

1. Flashforward - Words of Mormon. In this part of the book, Mormon is writing in about the year 385 AD telling about the small plates of Nephi (books from 1 Nephi to Omni) and their inclusion in his writings, and the large plates of Nephi, (which include the books from Mosiah to Mormon). The Word of Mormon chapter acts as a bridge between the two different sets of plates and how they came together - see also Origin and Transmission of the Plates , and How the Plates Became the Book of Mormon

2. Flashback 1 - Mosiah Chapters 9-22, The Record of Zeniff. This record is hinted about in Mosiah Chapter 7 when Ammon finds King Limhi, the grandson of Zeniff. This flashback goes back about 79 years from when it is introduced to describe how King Limhi and his people ended up in their situation.

3. Flashback 2 - Mosiah Chapters 23-24, The Record of Alma's travels in the Wilderness. This record is a flashback of about 24 years and is another account of people dealing with the Lamanites and eventually how both groups get reunited with the people of King Mosiah.

4. Flashback 3 - Alma Chapters 17-26, An Account of the Sons of Mosiah. This record is a flashback of about 13 years when the Sons of Mosiah went to preach to the Lamanites and what their dealings were like.

5. Flashback 4 - The entire Book of Ether, a Record of the Jaredites. This record is taken from the 24 plates found by the people of Limhi (introduced in Mosiah Chapter 8) that were translated by King Mosiah (see Mosiah Chapter 28). This flashback goes back over 1700 years, starting about 2200 BC down to the time of Coriantumr, who lived somewhere between 500 and 250 BC.

Aside from the Book of Ether, the rest of the Book of Mormon from 1 Nephi to Moroni covers approximately 1000 years of history.