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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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Abe's Honest Words
by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
from Disney-Hyperion
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Abraham Lincoln
A Rookie Biography
by Carol Greene
from Children's Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Adventurous Life of Myles Standish OSI
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Africa Is My Home
by Monica Edinger, illustrated by Robert Byrd
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Slavery & the Underground Railroad (Location: HISA-19SL)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Amelia Earhart
by Francene Sabin and Joanne Mattern, illustrated by Karen Milone
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Assassination of John F. Kennedy: November 22, 1963
24 Hour History
by Terry Collins
from Capstone Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Bold Composer
Creative Minds Biographies
by Judith P. Josephson, illustrated by Barbara Kiwak
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Boy Who Loved Bugs
by Molly Sanchez, illustrated by Larissa Sharina
from The Good and the Beautiful
for Preschool-2nd grade
in GATB Science & Health (Location: CUR-GABSc)
Calamity Jane
by Doris Faber
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Chief Joseph: Leader of Destiny
by Kate Jassem
from Troll Associates
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.40 (2 in stock)
Complete Maus
by Art Spiegelman
from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
Dear Benjamin Banneker
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.49
Electrical Wizard
by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Oliver Dominguez
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Elizabeth I, the People's Queen
by Kerrie Logan Hollihan
from Chicago Review Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.60 (1 in stock)
Famous Pioneers & Frontiersmen
What a Character! Notable Lives from History
by Marilyn Boyer
from Master Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
Farmland Innovator
Creative Minds Biographies
by Catherine A. Welch, illustrated by Jan Naimo Jones
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
For You They Signed
by Marilyn Boyer
All-in-One Edition from Master Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Master Books History (Location: HISCUR-MB)
$39.19
Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids
by Kathleen Thorne-Thomsen
2nd edition from Chicago Review Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
George Washington You Never Knew
by James Lincoln Collier
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Happy Birthday, Dr. King!
by Kathryn Jones, Illustrated by Floyd Cooper
from Modern Curriculum Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$1.60 (1 in stock)
If You Grew Up With George Washington
If You Were There
by Ruth Belov Gross
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
J.R.R. Tolkien for Kids OSI
by Simonetta Carr
from Chicago Review Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Line
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Andrew Santella
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Jesse Owens: Gold Medal Hero
Sterling Biographies
by Jim Gigliotti
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
John Hancock
by Candice Ransom
from Barnes & Noble
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Kinderlager
by Milton J. Nieuwsma
from Scholastic Inc.
for 6th-Adult
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo
by Struan Reid
from Heinemann Library
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
My Name is York
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
from Rising Moon Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Nathan Hale
Hidden History: Spies
by Aaron Derr, Illustrated by Tami Wicinas
from Red Chair Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Florence Nightingale
by David A. Adler, illustrated by John & Alexandra Wallner
Repackaged from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Remembering John McCrae
by Linda Granfield
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Robert Fulton
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Robert Patterson
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$5.00 (4 in stock)
Rosa
by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier
from Square Fish Publishing
for 1st-4th grade
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.49
Rosa
by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Sacajawea: Wilderness Guide
by Kate Jassem
from Troll Publishing
Biography for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Sophie Takes to the Sky
by Katherine Woodfine, illustrated by Briony May Smith
from Kane Miller
for 1st-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Story of Abraham Lincoln
by Carla Jablonski, illustrated by Patrick Corrigan
from Rockridge Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Story of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Maureen Ash
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of John F. Kennedy
A Spotlight Wonder Book
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Wonder Books
for 5th-Adult
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Story of Mae Jemison
by Amy Drorbaugh, illustrated by Marta Koshulinska
from The Good and the Beautiful
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Story of Maria Merian
by Ashlee Klemm, illustrated by Anna Speshilova
from The Good and the Beautiful
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in GATB Science & Health (Location: CUR-GABSc)
Story of Marquette and Jolliet
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Story of the Reconstruction
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Brendan January
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Thomas Jefferson
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Top of the World
by Steve Jenkins
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
2000 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$6.95
Usborne Book of Explorers
by Anne Millard, Felicity Everett & Struan Reid
from Usborne
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.00 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Usborne Book of Explorers
by Anne Millard, Felicity Everett & Struan Reid
from Usborne
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Voice of the Paiutes
Creative Minds Biographies
by Jodie Shull, illustrated by Keith Birdsong
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Voice That Challenged a Nation
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
for 5th-9th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book, NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book, 2005 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$10.19
War Boy
by Michael Foreman
from Farshore
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$12.74
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
for 4th-6th grade
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$6.99 $3.50 (4 in stock)
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Who Was Galileo?
by Patricia Brennan Demuth, illustrated by John O'Brien
from Penguin Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
Who Was J. R. R. Tolkien?
by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso, illustrated by Jonathan Moore
from Penguin Workshop
for 2nd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$5.94
Who Was Louis Braille?
Who Was?...Series
by Margaret Frith, illustrated by Robert Squier
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.?
from Hampton-Brown
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Who Was P. T. Barnum?
by Kirsten Anderson, illustrated by Stephen Marchesi
from Penguin Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
Writing for Freedom
Creative Minds Biographies
by Erica Stux, illustrated by Mary O'Keefe Young
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Young Frederick Douglass
by Laurence Santrey
from Troll Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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