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Cultural History

You'll often hear proponents of whole-book education methods talk about the benefit of learning history through literature. They aren't talking about the kind of history you might learn in a textbook—for them, knowing the dates of the Thirty Years' War or the name of the first prime minister of Australia isn't that important. The kind of history you'll learn in novels and diaries and essays is cultural history.

How people live, what they learn in school, the weapons they use, their religion, how they perceive their role in the world: these are all elements of culture that fiction and private documents reveal much better and more thoroughly than books simply detailing facts. Source documents are the product as much of the culture in which they're written, after all, as they are the result of the authors' own invention.

Books simply about the customs and daily life of a people group do have their place, too. You might not have as intimate a portrait of Victorian England after reading What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew as you would after reading Great Expectations, but you'll learn plenty. Sometimes you just need the straightforward facts, and at times like those novels are not your friends.

The real question for many, however, isn't how do I learn about different cultures?, but WHY should I learn about different cultures? Well, there's no law saying you have to, but aside from the fun you can have doing so, learning about foreign or lost cultures is one way to better understand your own place in the grand scheme of things.

It's not that the Chinese New Year festival will shed any great light on your own situation, but the deeper you study the cultural contexts around the globe, the more you realize how similar people really are. Understanding connections is one of the great advantages of a well-rounded education; the connections between people a solid grounding in cultural history can offer are especially poignant.

Of course, reading about the origins of your own culture will help you understand why you do things the way you do, why you think the way you do, why the people around you are the way they are. As Christians, this knowledge can help us share the Gospel easier than if we knew nothing of the background of the people we try to reach, and that is the one reason for studying cultural history that trumps all the others.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes 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: 10th grade (Ages 15-16), New Books & Materials
101 Hymn Stories
by Kenneth Osbeck
from Kregel Publications
for 6th-12th grade
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
$16.99
101 Hymn Stories
by Kenneth Osbeck
40th Anniversary from Kregel Publications
for 6th-12th grade
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
$18.99
101 More Hymn Stories
by Kenneth Osbeck
from Kregel Publications
for 6th-12th grade
in History of Hymns (Location: XCH-HYMN)
$18.99
American Art Bingo Volume I
by Kristin Draeger
from ArtK12
for 3rd-10th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$16.96
American Art History Volume I
by Kristin Draeger
from ArtK12
for 3rd-10th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$33.96
American Art History Volume II
by Kristin Draeger
from ArtK12
for 3rd-10th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$33.96 $27.00 (1 in stock)
Annotated Mona Lisa
by Carol Strickland
2nd edition from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-12th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$16.00
Annotated Mona Lisa
by Carol Strickland
3rd edition from Andrews McMeel
for 5th-12th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$29.99
Arrow Pointing to Heaven
by James Bryan Smith
Revised from B&H Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.99
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Dover Thrift Editions
by Benjamin Franklin
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 $2.50 (1 in stock)
Band of Brothers
by Stephen Ambrose, Foreword by Tom Hanks
25th anniversary from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$18.99
Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings
Signet Classics
by Benjamin Franklin
Reprint from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$5.95
Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci
by Romola Anderson, R. C. Anderson
1st edition from Henry Holt and Company
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Book on the Bookshelf
by Henry Petroski
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in History of Books & Language (Location: HISV-BOOK)
$16.95
Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
by Bryan Mealer, William Kamkwamba
from Harper Perennial
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Brit. Lit. Volume 7
by Oscar Wilde, George Sullivan
from Logos School
for 10th-12th grade
in Logos Brit. Lit. (Location: LITCUR-LOG)
$10.00
Carver: A Life in Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
from Boyds Mill Press
for 7th-11th grade
2002 Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.95
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan
by William Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Drama for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$29.95
Creative Haven Fabulous Fashions of the 1950's
Creative Haven
by Ming-Ju Sun
from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
in Adult Coloring Books (Location: COL-ADULT)
$7.99
David Livingstone
by C. Silvester Horne
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.75
Dore's Illustrations for "Paradise Lost"
by Gustave Dore
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$14.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Dr. Oma
Chosen Daughters
by Ethel Herr
from P&R Publishing
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Drawing American Art Volume II
by Kristin Draeger
from ArtK12
for 3rd-10th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$25.46 $20.00 (1 in stock)
Exploring the History of Medicine
Exploring Series
by John Hudson Tiner
from Master Books
for 5th-12th grade
in Memoria Press Science (Location: SCICUR-MP)
$15.19 $9.50 (3 in stock)
Exploring the U.S. Life-Saving Service: 1878-1915
by Rebecca Locklear
for 4th-12th grade
in Military & Weapon History (Location: HISV-MILIT)
$19.95
Exploring the World of Mathematics
Exploring Series
by John Hudson Tiner
from Master Books
for 6th-10th grade
in Memoria Press Science (Location: SCICUR-MP)
$15.19 $9.50 (2 in stock)
Exploring the World of Mathematics - Supplemental Questions
by Cooper Boldrick
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Memoria Press Science (Location: SCICUR-MP)
$6.00 $3.50 (1 in stock)
Exploring the World of Mathematics - Teacher Key & Tests
by Cooper Boldrick
2nd edition from Memoria Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Memoria Press Science (Location: SCICUR-MP)
$8.95 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Gift of Music
by Jane Stuart Smith & Betty Carlson
3rd edition from Crossway Books
for 6th-12th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$19.19
Gifted Hands
by M.D. Ben Carson
Reprinted from Zondervan
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
God & the History of Art - DVD
by Barry Stebbing
from How Great Thou Art
for 4th-12th grade
in How Great Thou Art (Location: ELE-ARTHGTA)
$29.95
Great Physicists from Galileo to Einstein
by George Gamow
from Dover Publications
Biography for 9th-Adult
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$16.95
Home: A Short History of an Idea
by Witold Rybczynski
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in Purposeful Homemaking (Location: SS-HOM)
$12.80
Illustrated Wreck of the Whaleship Essex
by Owen Chase
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.95
King Alfred's English
by Laurie J. White
from Shorter Word Press
for 7th-12th grade
in History of Books & Language (Location: HISV-BOOK)
$15.60
Marvelous to Behold
by Jennifer Courtney
from Classical Conversations
for 7th-12th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$31.99
Material World
by Peter Menzel
from Sierra Club Books
for 7th-Adult
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$32.00
Microbe Hunters
by Paul De Kruif
from Purple House Press
for 10th-Adult
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$12.99
Miracle in the Hills
by Mary T. Martin Sloop with Legette Blythe
from McGraw-Hill
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Music of the Great Composers
by Patrick Kavanaugh
from Zondervan
for 9th-Adult
in Music Appreciation (Location: ELE-MUSAP)
$21.99 $15.00 (1 in stock)
My Favorite Songs
by Maria Trapp
from Veritas Press
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.00
My First Summer in the Sierra
by John Muir
from Gibbs M. Smith
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.95
North Star Geography
by Tyler H. Hogan
1st edition from Bright Ideas Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Geography Curriculum (Location: GEO-CUR)
$89.95 $49.00 (1 in stock)
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien
by Christopher Tolkien (editor and text), illustrations by J.R.R. Tolkien
2021 Reissue from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Lord of the Rings (Location: LIR-LOTR)
$35.00
PLP: Survey of Science History & Concepts - Parent Lesson Planner
from Master Books
for 10th-12th grade
in Master Books Science (Location: SCICUR-MB)
$13.20
Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Salt-Water Men
Canadian Inheritance Series #1
by Joseph Schull
from Inheritance Publications
for 7th-10th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$12.95
Soul of Science
Turning Point Christian Worldview
by Nancy Pearcey & Charles Thaxton
from Crossway Books
for 10th-Adult
in Faith & Science (Location: XAP-SCI)
$17.00
Story of Painting
by Sister Wendy Beckett
from DK Publishing
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$48.00
Student's Guide to Music History
by R. J. Stove
from Intercollegiate Studies Institute
for 9th-12th grade
$8.00
Two Years Before the Mast
by Richard Henry Dana Jr., illustrated by E. Boyd Smith
from SeaWolf Press
Autobiographical Narrative for 10th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$12.95
Uncovering the Logic of English
by Denise Eide
2nd Edition from Logic of English, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Logic of English (Location: PHO-LOE)
$14.99
Way Things Work Now
by David Macaulay & Neil Ardley
3rd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-10th grade
in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$35.00
Wright Brothers
by David McCullough
Reprint from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.00
You Don't Cry Out Loud
by Lily Isaacs
from New Leaf Press
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00
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