diff --git a/docs/usage.rst b/docs/usage.rst
index f9cdb60c..374f8262 100644
--- a/docs/usage.rst
+++ b/docs/usage.rst
@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ everything that happened from the start of last year to the start of last march.
 
     jrnl -starred
 
+and to order them descendantly by date ::
+
+    jrnl -desc
+
 Using Tags
 ----------
 
diff --git a/features/core.feature b/features/core.feature
index ab86da42..8b3cb442 100644
--- a/features/core.feature
+++ b/features/core.feature
@@ -53,6 +53,18 @@ Feature: Basic reading and writing to a journal
         When we run "jrnl -on 2013-06-10 --short"
         Then the output should be "2013-06-10 15:40 Life is good."
 
+    Scenario: -desc displays the entries descendantly by date
+        Given we use the config "basic.yaml"
+        When we run "jrnl --desc"
+        Then the output should be 
+            """
+            2013-06-10 15:40 Life is good.
+            | But I'm better.
+
+            2013-06-09 15:39 My first entry.
+            | Everything is alright
+            """
+
     Scenario: -s displays the short version of entries (only the title)
         Given we use the config "basic.yaml"
         When we run "jrnl -on 2013-06-10 -s"
diff --git a/jrnl/Journal.py b/jrnl/Journal.py
index c36b3760..7560b962 100644
--- a/jrnl/Journal.py
+++ b/jrnl/Journal.py
@@ -122,10 +122,11 @@ class Journal(object):
     def __unicode__(self):
         return self.pprint()
 
-    def pprint(self, short=False):
+    def pprint(self, short=False, desc=False):
         """Prettyprints the journal's entries"""
         sep = "\n"
-        pp = sep.join([e.pprint(short=short) for e in self.entries])
+        sorted_entries = sorted(self.entries, key=lambda entry: entry.date, reverse=desc)
+        pp = sep.join([e.pprint(short=short) for e in sorted_entries])
         if self.config['highlight']:  # highlight tags
             if self.search_tags:
                 for tag in self.search_tags:
diff --git a/jrnl/cli.py b/jrnl/cli.py
index 042e38e0..90088108 100644
--- a/jrnl/cli.py
+++ b/jrnl/cli.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ def parse_args(args=None):
     reading.add_argument('-on', dest='on_date', metavar="DATE", help='View entries on this date')
     reading.add_argument('-and', dest='strict', action="store_true", help='Filter by tags using AND (default: OR)')
     reading.add_argument('-starred', dest='starred', action="store_true", help='Show only starred entries')
+    reading.add_argument('-desc', dest='desc', action="store_true", help='Order entries downwards')
     reading.add_argument('-n', dest='limit', default=None, metavar="N", help="Shows the last n entries matching the filter. '-n 3' and '-3' have the same effect.", nargs="?", type=int)
 
     exporting = parser.add_argument_group('Export / Import', 'Options for transmogrifying your journal')
@@ -238,13 +239,15 @@ def run(manual_args=None):
                        starred=args.starred)
         journal.limit(args.limit)
 
+    desc = args.desc if args.desc is not None else False
+
     # Reading mode
     if not mode_compose and not mode_export and not mode_import:
-        print(util.py2encode(journal.pprint()))
+        print(util.py2encode(journal.pprint(desc=desc)))
 
     # Various export modes
     elif args.short:
-        print(util.py2encode(journal.pprint(short=True)))
+        print(util.py2encode(journal.pprint(short=True, desc=desc)))
 
     elif args.tags:
         print(util.py2encode(plugins.get_exporter("tags").export(journal)))