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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236 Items found Print
Active Filters: Historical Fiction, 5th grade (Ages 10-11), New Books & Materials
After the War
by Carol Matas
from Simon Pulse
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
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Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
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Amos Fortune, Free Man
by Elizabeth Yates, illustrated by Nora S. Unwin
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1951 Newbery Medal winner
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Angel on the Square
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Arrow Over the Door
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Bad News for Outlaws
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Ballad of Lucy Whipple
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Battle of Seattle
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Struggle for Freedom Series #3
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Behind Rebel Lines
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Ben and Me
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Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
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Monroe Family Chronicles #1
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Blood on the River: James Town, 1607
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Breadwinner, The
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Brother's Keeper
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Little House Series #5
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Cabin Faced West
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Captain's Dog
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Carolina's Courage
by Elizabeth Yates
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Carpenter of Zerbst
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
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Children of the Covered Wagon
by Mary Jane Carr
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by Frederick Marryat
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Clearing Weather
by Cornelia Meigs
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
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Coming Evil
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Courage of Sarah Noble
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Day the World Stopped Turning
by Michael Morpurgo
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Devil's Arithmetic
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Struggle for Freedom Series #2
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Don't You Know There's a War On?
by Avi
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Dragonfly Eyes
by Cao Wenxuan, translated from the Chinese by Helen Wang
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Dragonwings
Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1903
by Laurence Yep
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1976 Newbery Honor Book
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Dutch Color
by Doug Jones
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Early Thunder
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Echo Mountain
by Lauren Wolk
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Echoes of the White Giraffe
by Sook Nyul Choi
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Elephant Run
by Roland Smith
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Endless Steppe
by Esther Hautzig
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Enemy Brothers
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Constance Savery
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Esperanza Rising
by Pam Munoz Ryan
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Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Farmer Boy
Little House Series #3
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Farrier of Buda
by P. de Zeeuw
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Father's Promise
by Donna Hess
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Fear in the Forest
by Cateau de Leeuw
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Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Fiddler's Green
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Finding Providence
An I Can Read Chapter Book
by Avi
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First Four Years
Little House Series #9
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
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First Four Years
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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For the Heart of Holland
Struggle for Freedom Series #4
by Piet Prins
from Inheritance Publications
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$12.95
Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
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Gathering of Days
by Joan Blos
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
1980 Newbery Medal winner
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Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler
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Glory Be
by Augusta Scattergood
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Gone Crazy in Alabama
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
Coretta Scott King Award
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Grandfather's Dance
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.99
Great Wheel
by Robert Lawson
from Walker and Company
Realistic fiction for 4th-8th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
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Grim Reaper
Shadow Series #3
by Piet Prins
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Guns for General Washington
by Seymour Reit
from Harcourt
Historical fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Guns of Thunder
Faith and Freedom Trilogy #1
by Doug Bond
from P&R Publishing
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
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$14.99
Hammer of the Huguenots
Heroes & History
by Douglas Bond
from P&R Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
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$12.99
He Went with Champlain
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
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$13.59
He Went with Christopher Columbus
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
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$13.59
He Went with Drake
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
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$13.59
He Went with John Paul Jones
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
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$13.59
He Went with Magellan
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
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$13.59
He Went with Marco Polo
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
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$13.59
He Went with Vasco da Gama
by Louise Andrews Kent
2022 Reprint from Living Book Press
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$13.59
Heart Strangely Warmed
by Louise A. Vernon
from Herald Press
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$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Hedge School
by Gloria Whelan
from Bethlehem Books
for 4th-8th grade
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$14.95
Hero of Spionkop
The Louis Wessels Commando #2
by Lawrence Penning
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
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$10.95
Hideout in the Swamp
Shadow Series #2
by Piet Prins
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Hiroshima
by Laurence Yep
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
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House of Dies Drear
by Virginia Hamilton
Reissue from Aladdin Paperbacks
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I Am David
by Anne Holm
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
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$7.99
In Search of Honor
by Donna Hess
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical fiction for 5th-8th grade
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In This Hour
by Rudolf Van Reest
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
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Indian Captive
by Lois Lenski
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 4th-9th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
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Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
Reprint from HarperCollins
Narrative Poetry / Novel-In-Verse for 4th-8th grade
2012 Newbery Honor Book
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Iron Scouts of the Confederacy
by Lee McGiffin
2nd edition from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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$10.50
It Began with a Parachute
by William Rang
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
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$9.95
Jar of Dreams
by Yoshiko Uchida
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 5th-9th grade
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$6.99
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