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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Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), In-Stock Books & Materials
18 Penny Goose
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Sally M. Walker
from HarperCollins
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A is for Abigail
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ABC Book of Early Americana - Coloring Book
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2012 Dover from Dover Publications
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Above the Trenches
by Nathan Hale
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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
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$17.95
Abraham Lincoln & His Family - Paper Dolls
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Dover Coloring Books
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$5.99
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Lewis & Clark
by Jamie Aramini
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Adventures of Perrine
Windermere Readers #10
by Hector Malot, translated by Gil Meynier, adapted by Edith Heal
1954 edition from Rand McNally
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Adventures with the Santa Fe Trail
by Dave Webb, illustrated by Phillip R. Buntin
Revised from Kansas Heritage Center
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Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear
by Hans de Beer
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Aircraft - Coloring Book
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Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
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$14.99
Albert Einstein: Young Thinker
by Marie Hammontree
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
All-of-a-Kind Family
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Yearling
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
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$7.99
All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #1
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Follett
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
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$16.00 (1 in stock)
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
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from Lizzie Skurnick Books
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All-of-a-Kind Family Series #4
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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 Follett Publishing Co.
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
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$34.00 (1 in stock)
Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Non-Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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Amazing Pop-Up Pull-Out Space Shuttle
by David Hawcock
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Amelia Earhart: Young Aviator
Childhood of Famous Americans
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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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America In Korean War
by KidCaps
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America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
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America in the Time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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America in the Time of Lewis and Clark
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America's Paul Revere
by Esther Forbes
from Sandpiper Books
Biography for 2nd-6th grade
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$12.99
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
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$11.95
American History Stories Volume 2
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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American History Stories Volume 3
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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American History Stories Volume 4
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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$11.95
American Revolution
Revolution!
by R. G. Grant
from Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishing
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Amistad - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
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$3.95
And the Word Came With Power
by Joanne Shetler, Patricia Purvis
from Wycliffe Bible Translators
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$8.50 (2 in stock)
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
by Jean Fritz & Margot Tomes
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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$7.99
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
by Jean Fritz & Margot Tomes
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Andie's Moon
Historical House: 1969
by Linda Newbery
from Educational Development Corporation
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Angel Child, Dragon Child
by Michele Maria Surat
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
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Angel Knew Papa and the Dog
by Douglas Kaine McKelvey
from Rabbit Room Press
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$12.99
Animals Robert Scott Saw
by Sandra Markle
from Chronicle Books
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Anne Frank's Story
by Carol Ann Lee
from Puffin Books
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Anne of Jamestown
by Anne Price-Hardister, illustrated by Ruby Gardner
from Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Annie Oakley: Young Marksman
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ellen Wilson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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$7.99
Antique Airplanes - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
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Antique Locomotives - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Tre Tryckare Company
from Dover Publications
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$4.99
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
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$8.99
Aquila's Drinking Gourd
by Pamela Dell
from Tradition Books
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Ark, The
by Margot Benary-Isbert
2021 Revision from Purple House Press
for 3rd-10th grade
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$23.00
Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
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Arrow Over the Door
by Joseph Bruchac
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Ballad of Lucy Whipple
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Balto and the Great Race
Totally True Adventures
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
1st Printing from Random House Books for Young Readers
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Baseball Saved Us
by Ken Mochizuki
from Lee & Low Books
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$9.95
Battle of Valcour Bay
Triangle Histories: The Revolutionary War
by Scott Ingram
from Blackbirch Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bears of Blue River
by Charles Major
from Living Book Press
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$8.99
Beethoven's Heroic Symphony (Once Upon a Masterpiece)
from Charlesbridge
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$16.95
Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
by Patricia Beatty
from William Morrow & Company
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ben and Me
by Robert Lawson
from Little, Brown & Company
Humor/historical fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Ben Franklin
See and Read: Beginning to Read Biography
by Estelle Friedman, illustrated by James Caraway
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$17.95
Benjamin Franklin
Makers of America
by Ruth Cromer Weir, illustrated by Rus Anderson
from Abingdon Press
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer
by Augusta Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.39
Best Bad Thing
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Best Little Stories from World War II
by C. Brian Kelly
1996 Printing from Montpelier Publishing
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Betsy Ross: Designer of our Flag
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ann Weil
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99
Big Book of the Old West to Color
by Peter F. Copeland, et al.
from Dover Publications
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$9.95
Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers
by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula
from Golden Books
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Bill of Rights
by Lucia Raatma
from Scholastic Inc.
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Black Courage
by A. E. Schraff
from Macrae-Smith Company
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Blazing West: The Journal of Augustus Pelletier
by Kathryn Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Blockade Runners and Ironclads
by Wallace B. Black
from Franklin Watts
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Book About Christopher Columbus
by Ruth Belov Gross, Illustrated by Syd Hoff
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-12th grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$27.99
Boxes for Katje
by Candace Fleming
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$19.99
Brave Harriet
by Marissa Moss
from Harcourt Children's Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bravest Dog Ever
Step Into Reading Level 3
by Natalie Standiford
from Random House
Animal Stories for 1st-3rd grade
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$5.99
Brothers in Hope
by Mary Williams, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Lee & Low Books
for 1st-4th grade
2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Buffalo Bill
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$17.95
Buffalo Bill
by Frank L. Beals, illustrated by Jack Merryweather
1959 Edition from Wheeler Publishing, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Buffalo Bill: Frontier Daredevil
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Meryl Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
By the Great Horn Spoon!
by Sid Fleischman
from Little, Brown & Company
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$18.99 $8.00 (2 in stock)
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Pictorial Cover)
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
from Southern Publishing Association
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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