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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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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
Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends
by Lewis Spence
Reprint from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
Arms and Armor Annual
by Robert Held
from Follett
for 6th-Adult
in Military & Weapon History (Location: HISV-MILIT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Arrow Pointing to Heaven
by James Bryan Smith
Revised from B&H Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.99
Art of the Catapult
by William Gurstelle
from Chicago Review Press
for 9th-Adult
in Dangerous Books for Kids (Location: SS-DAN)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Art of the Renaissance
by Peter and Linda Murray
1999 reprint from Thames and Hudson
for 9th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Arts of the Sailor
by Hervey Garrett Smith
Reprint from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (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
Beekeeping
Storey's Guides
by Richard E. Bonney
from Storey Publishing
in Self-Sufficiency (Location: SS-Self)
Benjamin Franklin
by Carl Van Doren
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Between Worlds
by Marilyn R. Gardner
from Doorlight Publications
for Adult
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Birth of the New Physics
by I. Bernard Cohen
Revised and Updated from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 11th-Adult
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Music
by Gill Rowley
from Bounty Books
for 8th-Adult
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Old Ships
by Henry B. Culver, illustrated by Gordon Grant
from Dover Publications
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
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
Brendan Voyage
Modern Library Exploration
by Tim Severin
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.00
By the Sword
by Richard Cohen
from Modern Library
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Clockwork Universe
by Edward Dolnick
Reprint from Harper Perennial
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
Collector, The
by Jack Nisbet
from Sasquatch Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
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 Drawing
by Howard J. Smagula
from Brown & Benchmark Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Advanced Drawing Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTDRAD)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Dionysus Rising
by E. Michael Jones
from Ignatius Press
for Adult
in Culture & Discernment (Location: XCU-DIS)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Early Oregon Days
by Edwin D. Culp
1St Edition from Caxton Press
for 6th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Einstein's Cosmos
by Michio Kaku
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Essential Jazz
by Henry Martin
1st edition from Schirmer
for 9th-Adult
in Clearance: Art & Music (Location: ZCLE-ART)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fabulous Opal Whiteley
by Elbert Bede
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Five Equations that Changed the World
by Michael Guillen
from Hyperion Press
for 9th-Adult
in Math Reference & Teaching Aids (Location: MATR-TA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Flyboys
by James Bradley
2nd edition from Back Bay Books
for 10th grade-adult
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
Galileo's Daughter
by Dava Sobel
from Penguin Putnam
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Ghost Map
by Steven Johnson
from Riverhead Books
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Gift of Music
by Jane Stuart Smith & Betty Carlson
3rd edition from Crossway Books
for 6th-12th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$23.99
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's Outlaw
by Brian H. Edwards
2nd edition from Evangelical Press
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
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
Gulf War 1991
by Alastair Finlan
from Osprey Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in 20th Century: 1976-1999 (Location: HISW-20C4)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
History of Reading
by Alberto Manguel
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in History of Books & Language (Location: HISV-BOOK)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Home: A Short History of an Idea
by Witold Rybczynski
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in Purposeful Homemaking (Location: SS-HOM)
$12.80
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
from Broadway Books
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Invention of Nature
by Andrea Wulf
from Vintage Books
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Isaac Newton
by Mitch Stokes
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 7th-Adult
in Christian Encounters (Location: BIO-CE)
Kid on the River
by Dean Nichols
1st edition from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Lafayette Flying Corps Volume 1
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Leonaur, Ltd.
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$24.00
Lafayette Flying Corps Volume 2
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Leonaur, Ltd.
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$21.00
Log of Christopher Columbus
by Christopher Columbus, translated by Robert Fuson
1992 Printing from International Marine / McGraw-Hill
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Man Who Changed How Boys and Toys Were Made
by Bruce Watson
from Penguin Books
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Marine's Handbook
by Major L.A. Brown, USMC
7th Edition from U.S. Naval Institute
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Meaning of Everything
by Simon Winchester
Reprint from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$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)
North American Indian Burial Customs
by Dr. H. C. Yarrow
First Edition from Eagle's View Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Oysters of Locmariaquer
by Eleanor Clark, illustrated by Leonid
from University of Chicago
Oyster Farming for Adult
1964 National Book Award in Arts and Letters
in France (Location: HISMC-FRA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Passion for the Impossible
by Miriam Huffman Rockness
from Discovery House Publishers
for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Righting the Mother Tongue
by David Wolman
from Harper
for Adult
in History of Books & Language (Location: HISV-BOOK)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
River and the Gauntlet
by S. L. A. Marshall
from Time-Life Books
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Science: A History (1543-2001)
by John Gribbin
from Penguin Press
for Adult
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
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
Spirit of St. Louis
by Charles A. Lindbergh
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Biography for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers
by Patrick Kavanaugh
2nd edition from Zondervan
for 9th-Adult
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Art
by E. H. Gombrich
from Phaidon Press
for 10th-Adult
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$19.00 (2 in stock)
Stuff Matters
by Mark Miodownik
Reprint from Mariner Books
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
The Bounty
by Caroline Alexander
Reprint from Viking Press
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
This was Mining in the West
by David W. Pearson
Second Edition; First Printing from Schiffer
for 6th-Adult
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Treasury of Grand Opera
by Henry W. Simon, ed.
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in Opera & Choral Music (Location: ELE-MUSOP)
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
Used and Rare
by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone
from St. Martin's Griffin
for 10th-Adult
in History of Books & Language (Location: HISV-BOOK)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
USMC
by Russ Bryant, W. D. Perks
from Zenith Press
for 7th-Adult
in Military & Weapon History (Location: HISV-MILIT)
Victorian Internet
by Tom Standage
from Walker and Company
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Vietnam and America
by Marvin Gettleman, Jane Franklin, Marilyn B. Young, H. Bruce Franklin
2nd edition from Hickory Grove Press
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Voyager Out
by Katherine Frank
1st edition from Ballantine Books
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Western Port Ferries Past and Present
by Arthur E. Woodley
from Hill of Content
for Adult
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Worlds Apart
by Marilyn Gardner
from Doorlight Publications
for Adult
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
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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