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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215 Items found Print
Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Hardcover, In-Stock Books & Materials
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
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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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Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
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All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #1
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Follett
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All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #4
by Sydney Taylor; illustrated by Mary Stevens
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Animals Robert Scott Saw
by Sandra Markle
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Aquila's Drinking Gourd
by Pamela Dell
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Ark, The
by Margot Benary-Isbert
2021 Revision from Purple House Press
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$23.00
Beethoven's Heroic Symphony (Once Upon a Masterpiece)
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Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
by Patricia Beatty
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Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers
by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula
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Blockade Runners and Ironclads
by Wallace B. Black
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Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
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$23.79
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Brave Harriet
by Marissa Moss
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Brothers in Hope
by Mary Williams, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
from Lee & Low Books
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2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Buffalo Bill
by Frank L. Beals, illustrated by Jack Merryweather
1959 Edition from Wheeler Publishing, Inc.
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By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
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Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
from Southern Publishing Association
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Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
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$19.99
Caleb's Choice
from Lodestar Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
California Gold Days
by Helen Bauer
1961 Printing from California State Department of Education
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Carrie's War
by Nina Bawden
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Cathie Stuart
by Nora Tully MacAlvay
1958 2nd Printing from Viking Press
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Children of the Civil War
Picture the American Past
by Candice F. Ransom
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
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Picture the American Past
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Choosing Brave
by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington
from Roaring Brook Press
for 1st-4th grade
2023 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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$19.99
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
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Christopher Columbus and His Brothers
by Amy Hogeboom
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Clara Barton: Amazing Civil War Nurse
Amazing Americans
by Mary Dodson Wade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Cold War Correspondent
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
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$14.99
Columbus: The Triumphant Failure
by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell
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Coming to America
by Betsy Maestro
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Conrad Elroy, Powder Monkey
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Cornstalks and Cannonballs
by Barbara Mitchell
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Courage of Sarah Noble
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Cowboy Boots
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Crossing
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Daily Life in the Pilgrim Colony 1636
by Paul Erickson
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Davy Crockett
by George Edward Stanley
from Sterling Publishing Co.
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Dragon Tales
by Celia R. Brines
3rd edition from Pacific Press
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Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
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1999 Caldecott Honor Book
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Enemies of Slavery
from Holiday House
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Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
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$19.99
First Book Edition of the Star-Spangled Banner
by Francis Scott Key, Richard B. Morris, illustrated by Henry S. Gillette
First Printing from Franklin Watts
for 1st-3rd grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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First Four Years (Pictorial Cover)
by Laura Ingalls Wilder; illustrated by Garth Williams
from Harper & Row
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Flaming Arrows
by William O. Steele, Illustrated by Paul Galdone
1st edition from Harcourt
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Flight
by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Mike Wimmer
from Philomel Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Follow the Drinking Gourd
by Jeanette Winter
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$7.50 (2 in stock)
Food and Recipes of Westward Expansion
Cooking Throughout American History
by George Erdosh
1st edition from PowerKids Press
for 1st-4th grade
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
For You They Signed
by Marilyn Boyer
from Master Books
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Forging Freedom
by Hudson Talbott
from Putnam Juvenile
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Friar and the Knight
by Flora Strousse, illustrated by William Wilson
from P.J. Kenedy & Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
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$16.00 (1 in stock)
From Colonies to Country with George Washington - Book Only
My American Journey
by Deborah Hedstrom
from Multnomah Books
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
From Slave Ship to Freedom Road
by Julius Lester
from Dial Books for Young Readers
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Girl Who Drew Butterflies
by Joyce Sidman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for 3rd-8th grade
2019 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
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$17.99
Going to Town
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from Scholastic Press
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Going West
by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Thomas Allen
from Dial Books for Young Readers
Historical fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Book of Space Exploration
by Dinah L. Moche
from Golden Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Good Queen Bess
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from HarperCollins
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$18.99
Gristmill
Historic Communities
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Home Crafts (Historic Communities)
by Bobbie Kalman
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
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$5.50 (1 in stock)
How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning
by Rosalyn Schanzer
from HarperCollins
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
How I Became an American
by Karin Gundisch
from Cricket Books
for 3rd-6th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
How I Learned Geography
by Uri Shulevitz
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 2nd-5th grade
Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$21.99
How Our Nation Began
Christian Social History Series
by Don Sharkey, Sister Margaret, and Rt. Rev. Msgr. Philip J. Furlong
from W. H. Sadlier
for 2nd-4th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
How Sweet the Sound
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
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$17.99
Hudson Taylor
by Ben Alex,
from Victor Books
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
I am Sacagawea
Ordinary People Change the World
by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War
by Kay Moore
from Perfection Learning
for 2nd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$16.60
If You Sailed On the Mayflower
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern, illustrated by J.B. Handlesman
from Four Winds Press
Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
If You Were There in 1492
by Barbara Brenner
1st ed from Bradbury Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Immigrants to America
History of America
by Linda Thompson
from Rourke Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers
by Don Brown
from Clarion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
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$19.99
Jeb Stuart
Historical American Biographies
by Lynda Pflueger
from Enslow
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
John Brown: One Man Against Slavery
by Gwen Everett, Illustrated by Jacob Lawrence
from Rizzoli International Publications
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
John Hancock
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee, illustrated by Chuck Mitchell
from Children's Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
John, Paul, George & Ben
by Lane Smith
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny Tremain
by Esther Forbes, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-4th
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Joke's on George
by Michael O. Tunnell; illustrated by Kathy Osborn
from Tambourine Books
for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Journal of James Edmond Pease
My Name is America
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th Grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Journey to the New World
Dear America
by Kathryn, Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th Grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Juan Ponce de Leon
by Tamara Green
from World Almanac Library
for 2nd-4th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
G&D Famous Horse Stories
by Marguerite Henry
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
1958th edition from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Kaiulani
Royal Diaries
by Ellen Emerson White
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Royal Diaries (Location: SER-ROYAL)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Kidnapped Circus
by Richard Wormser, Drawings by Don Bolognese
from Weekly Reader
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
King George's Head Was Made of Lead
by F. N. Monjo
from Coward McCann
for 2nd-4th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
King's Day
by Aliki
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Kristina
by Carolyn Meyer
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Royal Diaries (Location: SER-ROYAL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Last Princess
by Fay Stanley; illustrated by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biographies for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Legends of the Wild West
by James A. Crutchfield, Bill O'Neal, Dale L. Walker
from Publications International
for 3rd-8th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Lewis and Clark and Me
by Laurie Myers
from Henry Holt and Company
Fictionalized Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Letters: The Personal Correspondence of Hannah Brown and Sarah Smith
by Nancy LeSourd
1st edition from Zonderkidz
for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Liberty Letters: The Story of Pocahontas, 1613
Liberty Letters
by Nancy LeSourd
1st edition from Zondervan
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Series Books (Location: SER-MISC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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