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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105 Items found Print
Active Filters: Narrative History, 5th grade (Ages 10-11), In-Stock Books & Materials
Abe Lincoln
Landmark Series
by Sterling North
from Random House
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Across America on an Emigrant Train
by Jim Murphy
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1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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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
from Yesterday's Classics
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America is Born
A History for Peter #1
by Gerald W. Johnson (iilustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher)
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American History Stories Volume 1
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by Mara L. Pratt
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American Revolution
Landmark Series
by Bruce Bliven
from Random House
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American Revolution
America at War Series
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Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom
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Antarctica: Escape from Disaster
by Peter Lerangis
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Awakening of Europe
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$8.49
Battle of the Little Bighorn
by R. Conrad Stein
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Behind Enemy Lines
Sterling Point Books
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Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
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Best Little Stories from World War II
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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
Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt!
by Jean Fritz
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Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?
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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
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Children of the Wild West
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Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
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Combat Nurses of World War II
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Cowboys of the Wild West
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Cowboys of the Wild West
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Freedom Walkers
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2007 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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George Washington
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Gettysburg
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Give Me Liberty!
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Great Fire
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1996 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Great Fire
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Great Little Madison
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1990 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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If You Grew Up With Abraham Lincoln
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by Kay Moore
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If You Lived in Colonial Times
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by Ann McGovern
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If You Lived in Williamsburg in Colonial Days
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by Barbara Brenner, Jenny Williams (Ilustrator)
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If You Sailed On the Mayflower
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by Ann McGovern, illustrated by J.B. Handlesman
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If You Sailed On the Mayflower in 1620
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by Ann McGovern
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If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon
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by Ellen Levine
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If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution
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by Elizabeth Levy
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If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island
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by Ellen Levine & Wayne Parmenter
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Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark
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John Paul Jones
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Landing of the Pilgrims
Landmark Series
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Lewis and Clark and Me
by Laurie Myers
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Medical Corps Heroes of World War II
Landmark #120
by Wyatt Blassingame
2022 Reprint from Purple House Press
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Miracle at Philadelphia
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Of Courage Undaunted
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Orphan Train Rider
by Andrea Warren
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Pearl Harbor Attack
by Edwin P. Hoyt
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Pioneers Go West
Landmark Series
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Seaman
by Gail Karwoski & James Watling
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
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$9.99
Seaman's Journal
by Gail Karwoski & James Watling
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Seaman's Journal
by Patricia Reeder Eubank
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September 11, 2001
Cornerstones of Freedom Second Series
by Andrew Santella
from Children's Press
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Stampede for Gold
Sterling Point Books
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from Sterling Publishing Co.
Historical Non-fiction for 3rd-7th
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$6.95
Stonewall
by Jean Fritz & Stephen Gammell
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Biography for 5th-8th grade
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$6.99
Story of Christopher Columbus
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of D-Day
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
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Story of Ellis Island
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
Story of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Maureen Ash
from Children's Press
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Sir Walter Raleigh
The Children's Heroes Series
by Margaret Duncan Kelly
from Yesterday's Classics
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$9.95
Story of the Bonhomme Richard
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Norman Richards
from Children's Press
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Story of the Bonhomme Richard
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Norman Richards
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Story of the California Gold Rush
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by R. Conrad Stein
Revised from Children's Press
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Story of the Constitution
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Marilyn Prolman
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Story of the Declaration of Independence
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by R. Conrad Stein
from Scholastic Inc.
American History Reference for 4th-6th grade
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$5.95
Story of the Erie Canal
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Story of the Fall of the Soviet Union
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Miles Harvey
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Story of the Gettysburg Address
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Kenneth Richards
from Children's Press
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Story of the Lincoln Memorial
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Natalie Miller
from Unknown Publisher
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Story of the Lone Star Republic
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Story of The Monitor and the Merrimac
by R. Conrad Stein
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Story of the Pony Express
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
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$2.50 (1 in stock)
Story of the Reconstruction
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Brendan January
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Story of the Roaring Twenties
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by R. Conrad Stein
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Story of the Spirit of St. Louis
Cornerstones of Freedom
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Story of the Star-Spangled Banner
by Deborah Kent
from Children's Press
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Story of the Star-Spangled Banner
Cornerstones of Freedom
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Story of the Trail of Tears
by R. Conrad Stein
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Story of the U.S.S. Arizona
Cornerstones of Freedom
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Story of Valley Forge
Cornerstones of Freedom
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Surviving Jamestown
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Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
by Ted W. Lawson
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$9.99 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Toward the Setting Sun
by Mary Barmeyer O'Brien
1st edition from Two Dot Books
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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$6.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Treasure Legends of the West
by Choral Pepper
1st edition from Gibbs M. Smith
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
True Tales of the Wild West
by Paul Robert Walker
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in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
What Really Happened In Colonial Times
by Terri Johnson, editor
from Knowledge Quest
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
What Really Happened In Colonial Times
by Terri Johnson, editor
Revised from Knowledge Quest
Biographies for 4th-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
What's the Big Idea Ben Franklin?
by Jean Fritz
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$2.00 (3 in stock)
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
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in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$6.99 $3.50 (3 in stock)
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
by Jean Fritz
from PaperStar Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
12