Modern History

There isn't more history in the last five centuries than all the previous millennia, we just have more plentiful records of it. In all honesty, sometimes the plethora of detail isn't only overwhelming, it obscures the whole point of the story. As humans, we're all too susceptible to the lure of obscurity, to the desire for darkness where there ought to be light.

In many ways, this is the chief characteristic of modern history. Mankind seems to have accepted Enlightenment ideals en masse, and the result is the non-stop acquisition of knowledge, as though information could shut us off from the eye of a just and jealous God. Evolutionary theory, psychology, existentialism and postmodernism, public education, Communism—all these ideas are intended to put man at a further remove from God.

During the Renaissance, thinkers and artists decided that if man was going to make himself great, he'd have to replicate the glory of the Classical Era, with its enduring artifacts and intellectual produce. Enlightenment thinkers took this one step further, insisting that man could only know what he could deduce using reason alone, and consequently amassing knowledge in order to have a more thorough basis for such reasonable inquiry.

Since then, philosophers and scientists have devoted themselves to interpreting the facts from a purely human perspective, creating a picture of the universe that is mechanistic and godless. Meaning is dead, God is dead, and hope is dead, but the Enlightenment ideal of human progress (repackaged as Darwinian naturalism) is alive and well, the phantom idol of countless millions.

Even a brief survey of the last century would seem to demolish the possibility of any such idea, but it continues to inform nearly every element of our culture, from pop music to public policy debates. Atrocities like the Holocaust, racism in America, abortion, and totalitarian rule in Asian countries are reinterpreted or explained away to fit the overarching rubrik of sustained forward progress.

Christians understand things a bit differently. We aren't pessimists by any means, but we aren't blind optimists, either. God's plan entails one thing: His ultimate glory, and for those who believe His promises and trust Him for salvation, that's the most hopeful doctrine conceivable. At the same time, we also understand that man's efforts cannot be responsible for whatever good befalls us, that "progress" is only a gift of the Most High, and that only through the Holy Spirit is evil overcome by good.

The modern world is increasingly secular. Even in the Church, men and women stray from biblical truth in favor of appealing arguments on behalf of man, substituting a Christ-centered Gospel with one that is primarily focused on mankind and our individual salvation. We must counter these attitudes with God's truth, but we can only do so with an understanding of where those ideas come from and why they've taken root. A thorough study of modern history can and will provide those answers, and teach us how to stand firm in the truth we hold dear.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace
from National Geographic
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18 Penny Goose
An I Can Read Book Level 3
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1812: The War and the World
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A is for Abigail
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Aaron and the Green Mountain Boys
by Patricia Lee Gauch, illustrated by Margot Tomes
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
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Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
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Across the Wide & Lonesome Prairie
Dear America
by Kristiana Gregory
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Addy Learns a Lesson
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Adoniram Judson
Christian Heroes: Then & Now
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$11.99
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
by Ormonde de Kay, Jr.
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
North Star Books #29
by John Bakeless
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Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Lewis & Clark
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Adventures of Munford: The American Revolution
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Adventures of Perrine
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1954 edition from Rand McNally
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Adventures of Perrine
Windermere Series 4
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Adventures of the American Revolution
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Adventures with the Santa Fe Trail
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African Traveler
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Air Raid - Pearl Harbor!
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1st Gulliver Books pbk. ed from HMH Books for Young Readers
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Dover Coloring Books
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Albert Einstein: Young Thinker
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Albert Schweitzer
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Album of Spaceflight
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Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Alia's Mission
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All About Aviation
All About Books #51
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All About Rockets and Jets
All About Books #13
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All About Rockets and Space Flight
All About Books #50
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All About Books #28
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All About Books #28
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All About the Arctic and Antarctic
All About Books #20
by Armstrong Sperry
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All About Undersea Exploration
All About Books #35
by Ruth Brindze, illustrated with more than 60 photographs
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All Thirteen
by Christina Soontornvat
from Candlewick Press
Daring Rescues for 4th-7th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book, 2021 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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$24.99
All Through the Ages
by Christine Miller
3rd edition from Nothing New Press
World History Reference for All grades
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All-of-a-Kind Family
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Yearling
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All-of-a-Kind Family
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All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #1
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
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All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #2
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Beth & Joe Krush
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
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$12.95
All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #4
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
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All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #4
by Sydney Taylor; illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Follett Publishing Co.
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
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$34.00 (1 in stock)
Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad
On My Own History
by Marlene Targ Brill
from First Avenue Editions
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Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99 $5.00 (4 in stock)
Along Came Galileo
by Jeanne Bendick
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
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$12.95
Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Non-Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99
Amazing Pop-Up Pull-Out Space Shuttle
by David Hawcock
from DK Publishing
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$25.00 (1 in stock)
Amelia Earhart - Coloring Book
by Muriel Earhart Morrissey
from Bellerophon Books
for 3rd-7th grade
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Amelia Earhart: Young Aviator
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Beatrice Gormley
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99
America At War: Korean War
by John Perritano
from Scholastic Inc.
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
America In Korean War
by KidCaps
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
America in the Time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
by Sally Senzel Isaacs
from Heinemann-Raintree
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Time of George Washington
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
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America in the Time of Lewis and Clark
by Sally Senzel Isaacs
from Heinemann-Raintree
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in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-7th grade
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$45.00 (1 in stock)
America Moves Forward
A History for Peter #3
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-7th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
America Moves Forward
A History for Peter #3
by Gerald W. Johnson
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
America's Ethan Allen
by Stewart H. Holbrook; illustrated by Lynd Ward
9th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
America's Paul Revere
by Esther Forbes
from Sandpiper Books
Biography for 2nd-6th grade
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$12.99
America's Robert E. Lee
by Henry Steele Commager, illustrated by Lynd Ward
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
American Fairy Tales
1st edition from Hyperion Books for Children
for 3rd-Adult
American Family of the Colonial Era - Paper Dolls
by Tom Tierney
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-5th grade
in Dover Paper Dolls (Location: COL-DOLL)
American History for Young Students I
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 1st-5th grade
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
American History for Young Students II
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 1st-5th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
American History for Young Students III
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 1st-6th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
$29.95
American History Stories Volume 1
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$11.95
American History Stories Volume 2
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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$11.95
American History Stories Volume 3
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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$11.95
American History Stories Volume 4
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$11.95
American Pioneer Family - Paper Dolls
by Tom Tierney
from Dover Publications
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American Plague
by Jim Murphy
from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
2004 Newbery Honor Book, 2004 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, NCTE Orbi Pictus Award
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$21.99
American Revolution
America at War Series
by Alden Carter
from Grolier Publishing
Historical Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade
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$6.95 $5.00 (4 in stock)
American Revolution
Revolution!
by R. G. Grant
from Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishing
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
American Twins of the Revolution
by Lucy Fitch Perkins
from Salem Ridge Press
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Americans to the Moon
Landmark Giant #20
by Gene Gurney
from Random House
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in Landmark Giants (Location: VIN-LAN)
Amerigo Vespucci
by Nina Brown Baker
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Amistad - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$3.95
Amos Fortune, Free Man
by Elizabeth Yates, illustrated by Nora S. Unwin
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1951 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
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