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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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11 Days in December
by Stanley Weintraub
from New American Library
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
1776
by David McCullough
from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$14.00 $8.00 (1 in stock)
1861: The Civil War Awakening
by Adam Goodheart
from Vintage Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
20 Plays for U. S. History Classes
by Dean R. Bowman
Revised from Walch Publishing
for 7th-9th grade
in Theater, Drama & Film (Location: ELE-THEAT)
20th Century Wars
by Robert W. Smith
for 5th-12th grade
in 20th Century America (Location: HISA-20)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation
by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon
from Hill and Wang
for 6th-12th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Aaron and the Green Mountain Boys
by Patricia Lee Gauch, illustrated by Margot Tomes
from Betterway Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
Picture Book Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
from Graphia
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Abigail Adams
by Natalie S. Bober
from Simon Pulse
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$13.95
Abraham Lincoln
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Abraham Lincoln
by Clara Ingram Judson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
1951 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Abraham Lincoln's World
by Genevieve Foster, expanded by Joanna Foster
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Non-fiction for 7th-10th grade
1945 Newbery Honor Book
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$21.95
Abraham Lincoln: The Man & His Faith
by G. Frederick Owen
from Tyndale House
for 10th-Adult
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Across America on an Emigrant Train
by Jim Murphy
from Sandpiper Books
for 5th-8th grade
1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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$10.95
Addy Learns a Lesson
by Connie Porter
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in American Girl (Location: SER-AMGIRL)
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Admiral Richard Byrd
Sterling Point Books
by Paul Rink
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Historical non-fiction for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Lewis & Clark
by Jamie Aramini
from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Munford: The American Revolution
by Jamie Aramini
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Adventures of Munford: The Klondike Gold Rush
by Jamie Aramini
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Gilded Age (1865-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
Adventures of the American Revolution
by Susan Olasky
from P&R Publishing
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Adventures of Theodore Roosevelt
by Theodore Roosevelt
from National Geographic
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00
Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
by Agatha Christie
2012 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 11th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Age of Fighting Sail
by C. S. Forester
from Chapman Billies, Inc
American Naval History for 8th-Adult
in War of 1812 (Location: HISA-19WET)
Age of Religious Wars
by Richard S. Dunn
2nd edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear
by Hans de Beer
Fir from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #06
by Marianne Hering & Marshal Younger
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #09
by Marianne Hering, Marshal Younger
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #13
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #14
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #15
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #20
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
AIO Imagination Station Book #21
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
AIO Imagination Station Book #22
by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.99
Air Raid - Pearl Harbor!
by Theodore Taylor
1st Gulliver Books pbk. ed from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 4th-6th grade
in WWII: Pacific Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2P)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Akiak: A Tale From the Iditarod
by Robert J. Blake
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 7th-10th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Alamo
Perspectives on History Series
by Mary Dodson Wade, editor
from History Compass
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Mexican-American War (Location: HISA-19TEX)
Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Alexander Hamilton
by Ron Chernow
from Penguin Random House
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Alia's Mission
by Mark Alan Stamaty
from Dragonfly Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
All That Glitters
Perspectives on History Series
by Phyllis Raybin Emert
from History Compass
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
in California State (Location: HISA-19CGR)
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
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$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
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.95
Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad
On My Own History
by Marlene Targ Brill
from First Avenue Editions
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$7.99 $5.00 (4 in stock)
Along Came Galileo
by Jeanne Bendick
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
Amazing Grace
by Eric Metaxas
from HarperOne
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.99
Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Non-Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$7.99
America and Vietnam
by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Non-Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Vietnam War (1957-1975) (Location: HISA-20VIE)
$13.95
America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
for 1st-4th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
America's Longest War
by George C. Herring
2nd edition from McGraw-Hill
for 11th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
America's Paul Revere
by Esther Forbes
from Sandpiper Books
Biography for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.99
America: From Gridlock to Deadlock
A Basic History of the United States Volume 6
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
in Basic History of the United States (Location: HISCUR-US)
$19.00
American Army of Two
On My Own History
by Janet Greeson
Reprint from First Avenue Editions
for 1st-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
American Civil War
by Robert K. Krick
from Osprey Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
American Civil War
by John Keegan
from Vintage Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$18.95
American Passage
by Vincent J. Cannato
from Harper Perennial
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Revolution
America at War Series
by Alden Carter
from Grolier Publishing
Historical Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$6.95 $5.00 (4 in stock)
American Revolutionaries
by Milton Meltzer
from HarperCollins
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Twins of the Revolution
by Lucy Fitch Perkins
from Salem Ridge Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
American Waterways: Canal Days
by Jeanne Munn Bracken, ed.
from History Compass
for 7th-12th grade
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
by Gordon S. Wood
from Penguin Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Amistad
by Helen Kromer
from The Pilgrim Press
for 7th-Adult
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
by Karen Zeinert
from Linnet Books
for 7th-10th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom
by Walter Dean Myers
from Puffin Books
for 5th-8th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
And the Word Came With Power
by Joanne Shetler, Patricia Purvis
from Wycliffe Bible Translators
for 2nd-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.50 (2 in stock)
And There Was Light
by Jacques Lusseyran
Third Edition from New World Library
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.95
Andie's Moon
Historical House: 1969
by Linda Newbery
from Educational Development Corporation
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Angel Child, Dragon Child
by Michele Maria Surat
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Angel Knew Papa and the Dog
by Douglas Kaine McKelvey
from Rabbit Room Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.99
Anna and the King (adapted)
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.95
Anna's Fight for Hope
Sisters in Time
by JoAnn A. Grote
from Barbour Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Sisters in Time (Location: SER-SIS)
Anne Bradstreet
by Heidi L. Nichols
from P&R Publishing
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$13.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Anne Bradstreet
Christian Renegades Series
by Doug Wilson
3rd edition from Canon Press
Biography for
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.95
Anne Bradstreet
by Faith Cook
from Evangelical Press
for 6th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Anne Frank's Story
by Carol Ann Lee
from Puffin Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
from Puffin Books
for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary
by Ruud van der Rol & Rian Verhoeven
from Scholastic Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Antarctic Antics
by Judy Sierra
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Arctic & Tundra (Location: SCI-ECO)
Antarctica: Escape from Disaster
by Peter Lerangis
from Scholastic Reference
for 4th-8th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Architecture
Perspectives on History Series
by Pat Perrin
from History Compass
for 6th-9th grade
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$7.95
Arctic Explorer
by Jeri Ferris
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 4th-6th grades
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Arctic Son
by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Wendell Minor
from Disney-Hyperion
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Arguing about Slavery
by William Lee Miller
from Vintage Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$17.95
Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Artist of the Reformation
by Joyce McPherson
from Greenleaf Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
Ashes
Seeds of America #3
by Laurie Halse Anderson
from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
At Aboukir and Acre
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Atlas of North American Exploration
by Glyndwr Williams, William H. Goetzmann
Oklahoma Paperbacks Ed from University of Oklahoma Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky
by Faith Ringgold
from Dragonfly Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
Aurora Means Dawn
by Scott Russell Sanders
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Autobiography of George Muller
by George Muller
from Whitaker House
Biography for 11th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
Autobiography of Josiah Henson
by Josiah Henson
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Avion My Uncle Flew
by Cyrus Fisher, illustrated by Richard Floethe
from Purple House Press
for 5th-7th grade
1947 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.95
Balloon Boy of San Francisco
by Dorothy Kupcha Leland
from Tomato Enterprises
for 7th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.95
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