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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132 Items found Print
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A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
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Adèle & Simon in America
by Barbara McClintock
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America Begins
by Alice Dalgliesh, illustrated by Lois Maloy
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Animals Robert Scott Saw
by Sandra Markle
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Aquila's Drinking Gourd
by Pamela Dell
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Astronauts on the Moon - Hallmark Pop-Up Book
by Al Muenchen and Stanley Hendricks
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Bad River Boys
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
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Beethoven's Heroic Symphony (Once Upon a Masterpiece)
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Benjamin in the Woods
Wonder Books Easy Reader
by Eleanor Clymer, illustrated by William Russell
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Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
by Marguerite Henry & Wesley Dennis
from Bobbs-Merril Co
Biography for 1st-6th grade
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Birds of Killingworth
by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root
1st edition from Sun Dial Press
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Boston Tea Party
by Russel Freedman, Illustrated by Peter Malone
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Boxes for Katje
by Candace Fleming
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Brave Girl
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Brave Harriet
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Brothers in Hope
by Mary Williams, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
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2006 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Award
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Bugle, A Puppy in Old Yorktown
by Mary Andrews, Illustrated by Manning de V. Lee
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Cassie's Journey
by Brett Harvey; illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray
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Chief Seattle
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Choosing Brave
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2023 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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Christopher Columbus
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Coming on Home Soon
by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
1st edition from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
2005 Caldecott Honor Book
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Coming to America
by Betsy Maestro
from Scholastic Inc.
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cornstalks and Cannonballs
by Barbara Mitchell
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Cowboy Small
by Lois Lenski
from Random House
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Cowboys
Usborne Beginners Level 1
by Catriona Clarke
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Cruise of Mr. Christopher Columbus
A Really Truly Story
by Sadyebeth & Anson Lowitz
from Lerner Publishing Group
Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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Drawing America: Sacajawea
Drawing America
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Biography for 1st-3rd grade
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Enemies of Slavery
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Finding Winnie
by Lindsay Mattick
First Edition from Little, Brown & Company
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2016 Caldecott Winner
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First Book Edition of the Star-Spangled Banner
by Francis Scott Key, Richard B. Morris, illustrated by Henry S. Gillette
First Printing from Franklin Watts
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
First Book of Pioneers
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First Book of the Antarctic
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Flight
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1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Food and Recipes of Westward Expansion
Cooking Throughout American History
by George Erdosh
1st edition from PowerKids Press
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George Muller: Faith to Feed Ten Thousand
Heroes for Young Readers
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George Washington Carver: America's Scientist
Heroes of History for Young Readers
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George Washington: America's Patriot
Heroes of History for Young Readers
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Gingerbread for Liberty!
by Mara Rockliff, Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch
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$17.99
Girl From the Tar Paper School
by Teri Kanefield
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
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Going to Town
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Going West
by Martin Waddell, illustratred by Philippe Dupasquier
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Golden Book of Space Exploration
by Dinah L. Moche
from Golden Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Great Adventure of Christopher Columbus
by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Tomie dePaola
from Putnam & Grosset Group
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Henry's Freedom Box
by Ellen Levine
from Scholastic Press
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2008 Caldecott Honor Book
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Henry's Freedom Box
by Ellen Levine, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
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2008 Caldecott Honor Book
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Home in the Woods
by Eliza Wheeler
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Homespun Sarah
by Verla Kay, illustrated by Ted Rand
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Hot Air
by Marjorie Priceman
from Atheneum
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2006 Caldecott Honor Book
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How Sweet the Sound
by Carole Boston Weatherford, Illustrated by Frank Morrison
from Atheneum
for 1st-4th grade
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$17.99
How They Built the Statue of Liberty
by Mary J. Shapiro
from Random House
for 1st-4th grade
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I Am Rosa Parks
by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, illustrated by Wil Clay
from Dial Books for Young Readers
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I am Sacagawea
Ordinary People Change the World
by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
If You Decide to Go to the Moon
by Faith McNulty
from Scholastic Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
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John Brown: One Man Against Slavery
by Gwen Everett, Illustrated by Jacob Lawrence
from Rizzoli International Publications
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
John, Paul, George & Ben
by Lane Smith
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Joke's on George
by Michael O. Tunnell; illustrated by Kathy Osborn
from Tambourine Books
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Journey
from Flying Eye Books
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Kindle Me a Riddle
by Roberta Karim, Illustrated by Bethanne Andersen
from Greenwillow Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
King's Day
by Aliki
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Kit Carson
by Shannon Garst
from Julian Messner
Biography for 1st-3rd grade
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Last Princess
by Fay Stanley; illustrated by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biographies for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Leah's Pony
by Elizabeth Friedrich, Illustrated by Michael Garland
from Boyds Mill Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
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Let's Go to the Battle of Gettysburg
by Judith Spiegelman, Illustrated by Charles Dougherty
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Living in Space
by Katie Daynes
from Usborne
for 1st-2nd grade
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Long Ago in Oregon
by Claudia Lewis, illustrated by Joel Fontaine
from Harper & Row
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Lost and Found
by Oliver Jeffers
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-1st grade
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$17.99
Lotus Seed
by Sherry Garland
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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Martin Luther King, Jr
by Carol Hilgartner Schlank, Barbara Metzger, illustrated by John Kastner
from Gryphon House
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Meet Andrew Jackson
by Ormonde de Kay
from Random House
for Kindergarten-2nd
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Meet John F. Kennedy
by Nancy Bean White
from Random House
for 1st-4th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Memory Coat
by Elvira Woodruff, illustrated by Michael Dooling
from Scholastic Press
Realistic Fiction for 1st-3rd grade
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Mighty Jackie
by Marissa Moss
1st edition from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
$11.00 $96.00 (1 in stock)
Moonshot
by Brian Floca
1st edition from Atheneum
for 1st-3rd grade
2010 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
Moonshot
by Brian Floca
Expanded Edition from Atheneum
for 1st-5th grade
2010 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$19.99
Moses
by Carole Boston Weatherford
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
My Brothers' Flying Machine
by Jane Yolen
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims
by Robert D. San Souci
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
New England Primer of 1777
by Gary & Wanda Sanseri
from Back Home Industries
for 1st-4th grade
in Miscellaneous Phonics (Location: PHO-MISC)
$20.00
Not Regina
by Christmas Carol Kauffman
Fourth Printing from Pathway Publishers
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Off to Plymouth Rock! with CD
by Dandi Daley Mackall
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
On the Mayflower
by Kate Waters
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Paul Revere
First Biographies
by Jan Gleiter and Kathleen Thompson, Illustrated by Francis Balistreri
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Peter the Great
by Diane Stanley
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of George Washington
by David A. Adler
1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe
by David A. Adler
1st edition from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Picture Book of Patrick Henry
by David A. Adler; illustrated by John & Alexandra Wallner
1st edition from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Paul Revere
by Alexandra Wallner, David A. Adler, John Wallner
1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Picture Book of Rosa Parks
by David A. Adler; illustrated by Robert Casilla
1st edition from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Planes
Usborne Beginners
by Fiona Patchett
from Usborne
for 1st-2nd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
Priscilla Alden
from Silver Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Queen of the Falls
by Chris Van Allsburg
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rare Treasure
by Don Brown
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Roanoke: The Lost Colony
by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple, illustrated by Roger Roth
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in New World Colonization (Location: HISA-17NW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sailing the Unknown
by Michael Rosen, Illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli
from Creative Editions
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Salem Days
Adventures in Colonial America
by James Knight
from Troll Publishing
Non-fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Saving the Liberty Bell
by Megan McDonald, Illustrated by Marsha Gray Carrington
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$19.99
Shine-A-Light: On the Space Station
Shine-A-Light
by Carron Brown and Illustrated by Bee Johnson
from Kane Miller
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Astronomy (Space) (Location: SCI-AST)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
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