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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161 Items found Print
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Abe Lincoln
Landmark Series
by Sterling North
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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$3.20 (2 in stock)
Across America on an Emigrant Train
by Jim Murphy
from Sandpiper Books
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1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Age of Fighting Sail
by C. S. Forester
1st edition from Doubleday & Company
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Air Raid - Pearl Harbor!
by Theodore Taylor
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America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson
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America is Born
A History for Peter #1
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American History Stories Volume 1
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by Mara L. Pratt
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$10.16
American History Stories Volume 4
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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American Revolution
Landmark Series
by Bruce Bliven
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American Revolution
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Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
by Karen Zeinert
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Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom
by Walter Dean Myers
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And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
by Jean Fritz & Margot Tomes
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Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
by Jean Fritz & Margot Tomes
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Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
Antarctica: Escape from Disaster
by Peter Lerangis
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Awakening of Europe
Story of the World Series #3
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
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$11.86 $6.40 (1 in stock)
Awakening of Europe
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$8.49
Battle of Lexington
by Jonas Clark
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$8.50
Battle of Salerno
Italy, September 1943-1945
by Irving Werstein, with maps by Ava Morgan
First Edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of the Little Bighorn
by R. Conrad Stein
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Behind Enemy Lines
Sterling Point Books
by H.R. DeMallie
from Sterling Publishing Co.
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark Series
by Margaret Cousins
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Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Best Little Stories from World War II
by C. Brian Kelly
1996 Printing from Montpelier Publishing
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Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge
by John S. D. Eisenhower
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Blizzard!
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2001 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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Bomb
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2013 Newbery Honor Book, 2013 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
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$24.99
Book of Discovery
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Boston Tea Party
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Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
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Brave Men
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Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt!
by Jean Fritz
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Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?
by Jean Fritz
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Children of the Great Depression
by Russell Freedman
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2006 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
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Civil War: A Narrative - 3 Volume Set
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$88.00
Combat Nurses of World War II
Landmark #116
by Wyatt Blassingame, illustrated by Gil Walker
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$13.99
Cornelius Ryan World War II Trilogy
by Cornelius Ryan
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Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Cowboys of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
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Endurance
by Caroline Alexander
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Explorations of Père Marquette
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by Jim Kjelgaard
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$32.00 (1 in stock)
First Voyage to America
by Christopher Columbus
from Dover Publications
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$9.95
Fourth of July Story
by Alice Dalgliesh
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
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Freedom Walkers
by Russell Freedman
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2007 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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George Washington
Sterling Point Books
by Sterling North
from Sterling Publishing Co.
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George Washington's Breakfast
by Jean Fritz
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George Washington's Breakfast
by Jean Fritz
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George Washington's Mother
An All Aboard Reading Reader Level 3
by Jean Fritz
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Gettysburg
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by MacKinlay Kantor
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Gettysburg
by Frank A. Haskell & William C. Oates
from Bantam Books
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Give Me Liberty!
by Russell Freedman
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Great Fire
by Jim Murphy
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1996 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Great Fire
by Jim Murphy
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Great Little Madison
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
1990 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Guns of August
by Barbara W. Tuchman
from Ballantine Books
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Hiroshima
by John Hersey
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How the Merrimac Won
by R.W. Daly
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If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern
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If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King
by Ellen Levine
Updated from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution
If You Were There
by Kay Moore
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If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War
If You Were There
by Kay Moore
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Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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$3.00 (2 in stock)
If You Lived in Colonial Times
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern
from Scholastic Inc.
Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
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If You Lived in Williamsburg in Colonial Days
If You Were There
by Barbara Brenner, Jenny Williams (Ilustrator)
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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If You Sailed On the Mayflower
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern, illustrated by J.B. Handlesman
from Four Winds Press
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If You Sailed On the Mayflower in 1620
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern
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Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon
If You Were There
by Ellen Levine
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Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution
If You Were There
by Elizabeth Levy
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If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island
If You Were There
by Ellen Levine & Wayne Parmenter
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Historical Non-Fiction for 2nd-5th grade
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In the Days of Queen Victoria
by Eva March Tappan
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Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark
by Rhoda Blumberg
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John Paul Jones
Sterling Point Books
by Armstrong Sperry
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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Journals of Lewis & Clark
Signet Classics
by John Bakeless, editor
from Signet Classics
Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult
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$7.61
Journey to Monticello
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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Landing of the Pilgrims
Landmark Series
by James Daugherty
from Random House
Historical Non-Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Last Battle
by Cornelius Ryan
Reprint from Simon and Schuster
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$17.00
Lewis and Clark and Me
by Laurie Myers
from Henry Holt and Company
Fictionalized Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lewis and Clark Expedition - 3-volume Set
by Meriwether Lewis
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult
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$32.00 (1 in stock)
Longest Day
by Cornelius Ryan
from Touchstone
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$16.14
Medical Corps Heroes of World War II
Landmark #120
by Wyatt Blassingame
2022 Reprint from Purple House Press
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$15.99
Miracle at Philadelphia
by Catherine Drinker Bowen
from Little, Brown & Company
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$9.00 (3 in stock)
Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
by LeRoy R. Hafen & Harvey L. Carter
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 9th-Adult
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Mr. Lincoln's Army
by Bruce Catton
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 7th-9th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Naval War of 1812
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Random House
Historical Non-fiction for 10th-Adult
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$15.95
Of Courage Undaunted
by James Daugherty
from Beautiful Feet Books
Non-Fiction for 5th-9th grade
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$17.95
Orphan Train Rider
by Andrea Warren
from Houghton Mifflin
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pioneers Go West
Landmark Series
by George Stewart
from Random House
Historical Non-fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Red River to Appomattox
The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 3
by Shelby Foote
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.40 (1 in stock)
Rising Sun Volume 1
by John Toland
from Random House
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Rough Riders
by Theodore Roosevelt
from Dover Publications
Historical non-fiction for 9th-Adult
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$8.95
Runaway Slaves
by John Hope Franklin
from Oxford University
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Seaman
by Gail Karwoski & James Watling
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$9.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Seaman's Journal
by Gail Karwoski & James Watling
1st edition from Ideals Children's Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Seaman's Journal
by Patricia Reeder Eubank
from Ideals Children's Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
September 11, 2001
Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series
by Andrew Santella
from Children's Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution!
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in New Nation (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
12