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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: Biographies, 5th grade (Ages 10-11), Trade Paperback
Abe Lincoln Grows Up
by Carl Sandburg
from Graphia
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Abigail Adams
by Natalie S. Bober
from Simon Pulse
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$13.95
Abraham Lincoln
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Abraham Lincoln
by Clara Ingram Judson
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th grade
1951 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Admiral Richard Byrd
Sterling Point Books
by Paul Rink
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Historical non-fiction for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Along Came Galileo
by Jeanne Bendick
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
America's Paul Revere
by Esther Forbes
from Sandpiper Books
Biography for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.99
And the Word Came With Power
by Joanne Shetler, Patricia Purvis
from Wycliffe Bible Translators
for 2nd-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.50 (2 in stock)
Anne Frank's Story
by Carol Ann Lee
from Puffin Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Anne Frank: Young Diarist
Childhood of World Figures
by Ruth Ashby
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Arctic Explorer
by Jeri Ferris
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 4th-6th grades
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Artist of the Reformation
by Joyce McPherson
from Greenleaf Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
Ben Franklin
Sterling Point Books
by Thomas Fleming
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Benazir Bhutto
by Englar, Mary
1st edition from Compass Point Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Benjamin Franklin
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Benjamin Franklin, American Genius
by Brandon Marie Miller
from Chicago Review Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.99
Biography of Benjamin Franklin
Sons of Liberty Series
by William M. Thayer
from A Beka Books
for 5th-9th grade
in A Beka Book Report books (Location: REA-ABK)
Biography of George Washington
Sons of Liberty Series
by William M. Thayer
from A Beka Books
for 5th-9th grade
in A Beka Book Report books (Location: REA-ABK)
Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
by William Thayer
from A Beka Books
for 5th-9th grade
in A Beka Book Report books (Location: REA-ABK)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Black Heroes of the American Revolution
by Burke Davis
1992 Odyssey Classics edition from Clarion Books
for 5th-8th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Boy on the Wooden Box
by Leon Leyson
Reprint from Atheneum
for 4th-8th grade
Christopher Award
in Holocaust (Location: HISW-20WW2H)
$9.99
Boy's War
by David Michell
1st edition from OMF
for 5th-8th grade
in WWII: Pacific Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2P)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Brendan the Navigator
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Yearling
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Buffalo Bill
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Candy Bomber
by Michael O. Tunnell
from Charlesbridge
for 4th-6th grade
in WWII: European Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2E)
$9.95
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Chasing Space for Young Readers
by Leland Melvin
from Amistad Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
$7.99
Christopher Columbus
Sowers Series
by Bennie Rhodes
from Mott Media
for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Clara Barton
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Columbus
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Courage to Run
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$8.99
Cup of Cold Water
by Christine Farenhorst
from P&R Publishing
for 4th-6th grades
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Daniel Boone
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Daniel Boone
Sterling Point Books
by John Mason Brown
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 3rd-7th
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Davy Crockett
by David Crockett
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Davy Crockett, Young Pioneer
by Laurence Santrey
from Troll Associates
for 1st-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Did It Take Creativity to Find Relativity, Albert Einstein?
by Gilda Berger, Melvin & Gilda Berger, Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99 $3.50 (1 in stock)
Did You Invent The Phone All Alone, Alexander Graham Bell?
by Gilda Berger, Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
by Geoff Benge, Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Discovery of the Americas
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$9.99
Douglas MacArthur
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Douglas Macarthur: American Hero
Book Report Biographies
by Barbara Silberdick Feinberg
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 3rd-6th grade
1999 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.99
Eagle and the Fort
by Dorothy Morrison
from Oregon Historical Society Press
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Elisabeth Elliot
by Geoff Benge, Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
by Michael Burgan
1st edition from Compass Point Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Encounter
by Jane Yolen
1st edition from Voyager Paperbacks
for 1st-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$8.99
Eric the Red & Leif the Lucky
by Barbara Schiller
from Avyx, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$4.50 (3 in stock)
Ernest Shackleton
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Exploration and Conquest TOS
The American Story Series
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Explorers News
The History News
by Michael Johnstone
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.99 $4.50 (4 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Dreher
from Tor Classic
Non-fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Sansevere-Dreher, Illustrated by Ed Renfro
from Starscape
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Famous Men of the 16th & 17th Century
by Robert G. Shearer
from Greenleaf Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation (Location: HISW-REN)
Father to Nobody's Children
by David E. Fessenden
from CLC Publications
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Fatty Legs
by Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret Pokiak-Fenton
from Annick Press
for 5th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Florence Nightingale
Sowers Series
by David Collins
from Mott Media
Biography for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
For God and Country
by John Riddle
from Barbour Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Bethany House
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Forty-Acre Swindle
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
Francis Asbury
by Geoff Benge, Janet Benge
from YWAM Publishing
Biographies for 4th-7th grade
in Christian Heroes: Then and Now (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Francis Scott Key
Sowers Series
by David Collins
from Mott Media
for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
by Russell Freedman
from Clarion Books
Biography for 4th-5th grade
1991 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Frederick Douglass: The Right to Dignity
from Emerald Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Freedom Walkers
by Russell Freedman
from Holiday House
for 4th-6th grade
2007 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$14.99
Freedom's Pen
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
New Edition from Moody Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$7.99
General George Patton
Sterling Point Books
by Alden Hatch
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Historical Non-Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in WWII: European Theater (Location: HISA-20WW2E)
George Muller
by Rebecca Davis
from Bob Jones University Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George vs. George
by Rosalyn Schanzer
Reprint from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$6.95
George Washington
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
George Washington
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
George Washington
Sterling Point Books
by Sterling North
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
George Washington
by Cheryl Harness
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.99
George Washington Carver
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
George Washington Carver: The Peanut Wizard
by Laura Driscoll
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Gettysburg Address in Translation
by Kay M., Olson
from Capstone Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.95
Go Free or Die
by Jeri Ferris
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.99
God's Adventurer
by Phyllis Thompson
from OMF
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Gold Cadillac
by Mildred D. Taylor
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Gold Cadillac
by Mildred D. Taylor
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Hallelujah Lass
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
New Edition from Moody Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$7.99
Hana's Suitcase
by Karen Levine
from Unknown Publisher
for 5th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Harriet Tubman
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Harriet Tubman
by Frances T. Humphreville
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Heart Strangely Warmed
by Louise A. Vernon
from Herald Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Helen Keller
by Polly Anne Graff, Stewart Graff
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Hidden Figures: Young Reader's Edition
from Harper
for 3rd-6th grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
$9.99
History of US Book 7
History of US Book 7
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$15.95 $11.00 (2 in stock)
Ice Bound
by Jerri Nielsen, Mary Anne Vollers
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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