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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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Active Filters: Narrative History, 8th grade (Ages 13-14), Hardcover
Alaska Gold Rush
Landmark #92
by May McNeer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
Landmark #85
by Russel & Anna Crouse
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson, illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher
from William Morrow & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
America's First World War
Landmark #77
by Henry Castor
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
American Revolution
Landmark #83
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Americans Into Orbit
Landmark #101
by Gene Gurney
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel
Landmark #80
by Katherine B. Shippen
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Balboa: Swordsman and Conquistador
World Landmark #25
by Felix Riesenberg, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Battle for Iwo Jima
Landmark #118
by Robert Leckie
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Battle for the Atlantic
Landmark #87
by Jay Williams
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Battle of Britain
World Landmark #10
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Battle of the Bulge
Landmark #114
by John Toland
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark #28
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Ben-Gurion and the Birth of Israel
World Landmark #62
by Joan Comay
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Betsy Ross and the Flag
Landmark #26
by Jane Mayer
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Bomb
by Steve Sheinkin
First Edition from Flash Point
for 5th-9th grade
2013 Newbery Honor Book, 2013 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
$24.99
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Buffalo Bill's Great Wild West Show
Landmark #73
by Walter Havighurst, illustrated by John C. Wonsetler
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Landmark #9
by Adele Nathan, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Spencer Press Landmark #9 (RH#9)
by Adele Nathan
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
California Gold Rush
Landmark #6
by May McNeer & Lynd Ward
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
California Gold Rush
Spencer Press Landmark #7 (RH#6)
by May McNeer & Lynd Ward
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Captain Waymouth's Indians
by Anne Molloy, illustrated by Douglas Gorsline
from Hastings House
for 7th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Catherine the Great
World Landmark #29
by Katharine Scherman
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Children of the Wild West
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Clara Barton
Landmark #58
by Helen Dore Boylston
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Combat Nurses of World War II
Landmark #116
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Coming of the Mormons
Landmark #37
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Commandos of World War II
World Landmark #61
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Commandos of World War II
World Landmark #61
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
Conquest of the North and South Poles
Landmark #27
by Russell Owen, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Copper Kings of Montana
Landmark #95
by Marian T. Place
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Custer's Last Stand
Landmark #20
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Custer's Last Stand
Landmark #20
by Quentin Reynolds
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 5th-9th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
Daniel Boone: The Opening of the Wilderness
Landmark #21
by John Mason Brown
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Davy Crockett
Landmark #57
by Stewart H. Holbrook
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Disaster at Johnstown: The Great Flood
Landmark #109
by Hildegarde Dolson
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Dolly Madison
Landmark #47
by Jane Mayer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Endurance
by Caroline Alexander
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Explorations of Père Marquette
Landmark #17
by Jim Kjelgaard
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Exploring the Himalaya
World Landmark #36
by William O. Douglas
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
First Overland Mail
Landmark #40
by Robert E. Pinkerton
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
First Transatlantic Cable
Landmark #88
by Adele Nathan
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Flight and Adventures of Charles II
World Landmark #38
by Charles Norman, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Florence Nightingale
World Landmark #46
by Ruth Fox Hume
from Random House
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Flying Aces of World War I
World Landmark #60
by Gene Gurney
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Flying Tigers
Landmark #105
by John Toland
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
From Casablanca to Berlin
Landmark #112
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa
Landmark #94
by Bruce Bliven
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Garibaldi: Father of Modern Italy
World Landmark #32
by Marcia Davenport
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
General Brock and Niagra Falls
World Landmark #28
by Samuel Hopkins Adams
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
George Washington: Frontier Colonel
Landmark #71
by Sterling North
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Geronimo: Wolf of the Warpath
Landmark #81
by Ralph Moody, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Gettysburg
Landmark #23
by MacKinlay Kantor, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Golden Age of Railroads
Landmark #93
by Stewart H. Holbrook
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II
Landmark #96
by Robert D. Loomis
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Guadalcanal Diary
Landmark #55
by Richard Tregaskis
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Hero of Trafalgar
World Landmark #55
by A. B. C. Whipple
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Heroines of the Early West
Landmark #91
by Nancy Wilson Ross
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
History of Plymouth
by William Bradford
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
Hudson's Bay Company
World Landmark #24
by Richard Morenus
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
John F. Kennedy and PT-109
Landmark #99
by Richard Tregaskis
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
John James Audubon
Landmark #48
by John & Margaret Kieran, illustrated by Christine Price
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Kit Carson and the Wild Frontier
Landmark #53
by Ralph Moody
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Landing of the Pilgrims
Landmark #2
by James Daugherty
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Landing of the Pilgrims
Spencer Press Landmark #2 (RH#3)
by James Daugherty
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Lawrence of Arabia
World Landmark #52
by Alistair MacLean
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Lee and Grant at Appomattox
Landmark #8
by MacKinlay Kantor
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Lewis & Clark Expedition
Spencer Press Landmark #5 (RH#15)
by Richard L. Neuberger
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Lincoln and Douglas
Landmark #44
by Regina Z. Kelly
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Louisiana Purchase
Landmark #24
by Robert Tallant
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
by James Daugherty
from Viking Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Marie Antoinette
World Landmark #20
by Bernadine Kielty
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Marquis de Lafayette
World Landmark #34
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Medical Corps Heroes of World War II
Landmark #120
by Wyatt Blassingame
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Midway: Battle for the Pacific
Landmark #119
by Edmund Castillo
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Monitor and the Merrimac
Landmark #16
by Fletcher Pratt
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Mr. Bell Invents the Telephone
Landmark #30
by Katherine B. Shippen, illustrated by Richard Floethe
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Mr. Lincoln's Army
by Bruce Catton
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 7th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo
World Landmark #7
by Frances Winwar
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Of Courage Undaunted
by James Daugherty
from Viking Press
Non-fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Old Ironsides: The Fighting Constitution
Landmark #51
by Harry Hansen
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Our Independence and the Constitution
Landmark #5
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Our Independence and the Constitution
Spencer Press Landmark #4 (RH#5)
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Panama Canal
Landmark #18
by Bob Considine
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Panama Canal
Spencer Press Landmark #10 (RH#18)
by Bob Considine
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Paul Revere and the Minute Men
Landmark #4
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Paul Revere and the Minute Men
Spencer Press Landmark #3 (RH#4)
by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Peter Stuyvesant of Old New York
Landmark #43
by Russel & Anna Crouse, illustrated by Jo Spier
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Pirate Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans
Landmark #19
by Robert Tallant
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Pocahontas and Captain John Smith
Landmark #3
by Marie Lawson
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Pony Express
Landmark #7
by Samuel Hopkins Adams
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Pony Express
Spencer Press Landmark #8 (RH#7)
by Samuel Hopkins Adams
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Queen Victoria
World Landmark #37
by Noel Streatfeild
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Remember the Alamo!
Landmark #79
by Robert Penn Warren
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler
World Landmark #47
by William L. Shirer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Robert E. Lee and the Road of Honor
Landmark #54
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Rogers' Rangers and the French and Indian War
Landmark #63
by Bradford Smith
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Santa Fe Trail
Landmark #13
by Samuel Hopkins Adams
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Santa Fe Trail
Spencer Press Landmark #6 (RH#13)
by Samuel Hopkins Adams
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
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