My Account Wish List Shopping Cart Log In
Store Location

Eyewitness & Primary Sources

The best thing about primary source documents isn't that they help us know exactly what happened—it's that they help us understand how people thought about what happened. Often, the authors of these works aren't altogether reliable narrators if we're going for exactitude and accuracy, but it's much more difficult to obscure one's feelings and thoughts on a matter, especially an important eventwith which they're directly involved.

A primary source document is any writing about an historical period or event by a participant or eye-witness. Both William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation and the U.S. Constitution are primary source documents, and both reflect the attitudes common during the time and place they were respectively conceived.

For Christians, the ultimate primary source document is the Bible. It's also an excellent resource for studying ancient history, as it gives unique insights into Near Eastern culture, thought, religion and warfare. Of course, the primary importance of God's Word is as divine revelation, Christ's Gospel and the Christian's guide for life and doctrine, but that doesn't mean we can't also use it to learn about the context of ancient Israel and the surrounding nations.

People sometimes dismiss primary source documents as "too difficult to read," but what's striking about most of them is how accessible they are. Because these texts werewritten by men and women directly involved in what they're writing about, there's a sense of immediacy and straightforwardness often lacking in what we've come to know as "history books."

Most of these titles are best used as supplements. For instance, while Martin Luther's The Bondage of the Will clarifies many of the concerns of the Reformers, the events and figures of the Protestant Reformation aren't addressed. Also, many primary source texts are theproduct of conquerors and victoriousmilitary leaders, and evidence a distinct bias that needsto be counterbalanced with a more factual study.

However you choose to integrate or implement these texts,be sure to approach them with interest and excitement. This isn't just history as a subject; it's history as the living story of people in our world, their thoughts and desires, their victories,and their tragedies. This is the human face of history, and one that cannot be ignored if you expect to have a consistent and thorough understanding both of the past and the present.

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.
Did you find this review helpful?
Parent Categories
Eyewitness & Primary Sources
Related Links
Wikipedia article
57 Items found Print
Filter
Active Filters: Trade Paperback
Across America on an Emigrant Train RUC
by Jim Murphy
from Sandpiper Books
for 5th-8th grade
1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
Alfred the Great
by Asser
from Penguin Classics
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$18.00
American Revolutionaries
by Milton Meltzer
from HarperCollins
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Annals of Imperial Rome
Penguin Classics
by Tacitus
from Penguin Classics
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$19.00
Art of War
by Sun Tzu
Later Printing from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$5.95
Art of War
by Sun Tzu
from Unknown Publisher
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Autobiography of Charles G. Finney
by Charles G. Finney
from Bethany House
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.00
Autobiography of Charles G. Finney
by Charles G. Finney
from Bethany House
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Behind Enemy Lines
Sterling Point Books
by H.R. DeMallie
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in WWII: European Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2E)
Bounty Mutiny
Penguin Classics
by William Bligh & Edward Christian
from Penguin Classics
Historical Non-fiction for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Boy on the Wooden Box
by Leon Leyson
Reprint from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
Christopher Award
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
$9.99
Boy's War
by David Michell
1st edition from OMF
for 5th-8th grade
in WWII: Pacific Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2P)
$4.00 (3 in stock)
Boys' War
by Jim Murphy
from Clarion Books
Historical Non-fiction for 5th-8th grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$12.99 $6.00 (3 in stock)
Chronicles
by Jean Froissart
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$18.00
Civil War
Penguin Classics
by Julius Caesar
from Penguin Classics
Primary Source Documents for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.00
Co. Aytch
by Sam Watkins
from Touchstone
Historical Non-fiction for 8th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$17.00
Cold War
Opposing Viewpoints in World History
by Louise I. Gerdes
from Greenhaven Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Communism & The Cold War (Location: HISA-20CW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Conquest of Gaul
Penguin Classics
by Julius Caesar
from Penguin Classics
Primary Source Documents for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$12.00
Early Christian Writings
by Various, Thomas Wyatt
Revised from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$17.00
Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Franklin
by David R. Logsdon
4th edition
for 9th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
First Voyage to America
by Christopher Columbus
from Dover Publications
Historical Primary Sources for 10th-Adult
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$9.95
Four Voyages
by Christopher Columbus
from Penguin Classics
Historical Primary Sources for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$17.00
Hey, Mac!
by William F. McMurdie
from American Home-School Publishing
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in WWII: European Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2E)
Ice Bound
by Jerri Nielsen, Mary Anne Vollers
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
by Olaudah Equiano
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$15.00
Josephus: New Complete Works
by Flavius Josephus
from Kregel Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$24.99
Journey and Ordeal of Cabeza de Vaca
Dover editions
by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$10.95
Land of the Morning
by Jean McAnlis McMurdie
from American Home-School Publishing
Biography for 10th-Adult
in WWII: Pacific Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2P)
Life and Diary of David Brainerd
by David Brainerd
from Baker Books
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.00
Life of Johnny Reb
by Bell Irvin Wiley
Updated Edition from Louisiana State University Press
for 10th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
March to Coomassie
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
March to Magdala
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings
by Martin Luther
from Anchor Books
Biography for 11th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$20.00
Mourt's Relation
by Dwight B. Heath, editor
from Applewood Books
Primary Source Document for 8th-12th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
Old Western Culture Year 2 Volume 2 - Reader
by Wesley Callihan
from Roman Roads Media
for 9th-Adult
in Old Western Culture (Location: LITCUR-OWC)
$32.00
Old Western Culture Year 4 Volume 3 - Reader
by Wesley Callihan
from Roman Roads Media
for 9th-Adult
in Old Western Culture (Location: LITCUR-OWC)
$32.00
Old Western Culture Year 4 Volume 4 - Reader
by Wesley Callihan
from Roman Roads Media
for 9th-Adult
in Old Western Culture (Location: LITCUR-OWC)
$32.00
Oregon Trail
Penguin Classics
by Francis Parkman Jr.
from Penguin Classics
Historical Non-fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
Our Faith: Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions
by CRC Publications
from CRC Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Creeds, Confessions & Catechisms (Location: XTH-CREED)
$10.00
Over the Applegate Trail to Oregon in 1846
by Anne Billeter, Bert Webber
for 8th-12th grade
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
Portable Enlightenment Reader
by Isaac Kramnick, Editor
from Penguin Classics
for 12th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$24.00
Protestant Reformation: Major Documents
by Lewis W. Spitz
from Concordia Publishing House
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Rough Riders
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Dover Publications
Historical non-fiction for 9th-Adult
in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$8.95
Rule of St Benedict
by St. Benedict & Timothy Fry, editor
from Penguin Classics
Devotional Material for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.00
Stories of Young Pioneers
by Violet T. Kimball
from Mountain Press
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-11th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$14.00
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Potomac's Aviation Classics
by Ted W. Lawson
1st edition from Potomac Books
for 4th-7th grade
in WWII: Pacific Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2P)
$18.95
Travels of Marco Polo
by Marco Polo
from Penguin Classics
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$17.00
True Tales of the South at War
by Clarence Poe, ed.
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Twelve Caesars
Penguin Classics
by Suetonius
from Penguin Classics
History for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$16.00
Two Lives of Charlemagne
Penguin Classics
by Einhard & Notker the Stammerer, translated by Lewis Thorpe
from Penguin Classics
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Two Lives of Charlemagne
Penguin Classics
by Einhard & Notker the Stammerer, translated by David Ganz
from Penguin Classics
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Underground Railroad: Life on the Road to Freedom
Perspectives on History Series
by Pat Perrin, ed.
2nd edition from History Compass
for 7th-12th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Voices of the Renaissance and Reformation
by Robert G. Shearer
from Greenleaf Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation (Location: HISW-REN)
Westminster Confession of Faith
by Westminster Assembly
from Free Presbyterian Publications
for 7th-Adult
in Creeds, Confessions & Catechisms (Location: XTH-CREED)
Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes
by G. I. Williamson
2nd edition from P&R Publishing
Confessions and Catechisms for 9th-Adult
in Creeds, Confessions & Catechisms (Location: XTH-CREED)
When Buffalo Ran
by George Bird Grinnell
from Hancock House
for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$1.00 (1 in stock)
Sign Up!

Shop

Support

Hours & Directions

Learn more about our store location and hours

Connect

503.655.1951

hello@exodusbooks.com

19146 Molalla Ave,
Oregon City, OR 97045