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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1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving
by Catherine O'Neill Grace
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1776
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1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
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Air Forces of the World
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All About Satellites and Space Ships
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All Thirteen
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America in the 1900s and 1910s
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Decades of American History
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Decades of American History
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Decades of American History
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America is Born
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America the Beautiful/ A Man of Destiny
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American Children Through Their Books
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American Plague
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2004 Newbery Honor Book, 2004 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, NCTE Orbi Pictus Award
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Answering the Cry for Freedom
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Appomattox
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Aquila's Drinking Gourd
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Armstrong
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Art for Children: Renaissance
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Astronauts on the Moon - Hallmark Pop-Up Book
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At the End of the Santa Fe Trail
by Sister Blandina Segale
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Autobiography of William Allen White
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B. Franklin, Printer
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Bad Faith
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Bad River Boys
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Battle from the Start
by Brian Steel Wills
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Beatrix Potter's Journal (Abridged)
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Becoming Elisabeth Elliot
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Beechcraft: Pursuit of Perfection
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Beethoven's Heroic Symphony
Once Upon a Masterpiece
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Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
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Behind the Scenes
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Being American in Europe 1750-1860
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Benjamin in the Woods
Wonder Books Easy Reader
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Berliners
by Vesper Stamper
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$18.69
Betsy and the Emperor
by Staton Rabin
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Betsy Ross and the Flag
Landmark #26
by Jane Mayer, illustrated by Grace Paull
from Random House
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Better a Shield Than a Sword
by Edward Teller
from Free Press
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Big Annie of Calumet
by Jerry Stanley
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Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers
by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula
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Biggest (and best) Flag That Ever Flew
by Rebecca C. Jones, illustrated by Charles Geer
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Black Man in America
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Blades of Freedom
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #10
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$13.59
Blizzard!
by Jim Murphy
from Scholastic Press
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2001 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Blockade Runners and Ironclads
by Wallace B. Black
from Franklin Watts
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Blow Ye Winds Westerly
by Elizabeth Gemming
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Blue and the Gray
by Thomas B. Allen, Photography by Sam Abell
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bomb
by Steve Sheinkin
First Edition from Flash Point
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2013 Newbery Honor Book, 2013 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
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$24.99
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Occident
from Living Book Press
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$27.99
Book of Marvels: Marvels of the Orient
by Richard Halliburton
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$27.99
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Michele Wood
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book
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$15.29
Boxes for Katje
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1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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$19.99
Boy Who Loved Math
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Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
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$17.84
Brave Men
by Ernie Pyle
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Brethren During the Age of World War
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
British are Coming
The Revolution Trilogy #1 of 3
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Bull Run
by Paul Fleischman
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Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
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Burma Surgeon
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By England's Aid
by G. A. Henty
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$19.51
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House Series #5
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
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$16.99
C. S. Lewis: A Life
by Alister McGrath
from Tyndale House
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$21.24
Cabin Boy to Advent Crusader
by Virgil Robinson, illustrated by Harry Baerg
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Caddie Woodlawn
by Carol Ryrie Brink
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Realistic Family Fiction for 3rd-7th grade
1936 Newbery Medal winner
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$16.99
Caleb's Choice
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Calico Bush
by Rachel Field, illustrated by Allen Lewis
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$5.60 (1 in stock)
California Gold Days
by Helen Bauer
1961 Printing from California State Department of Education
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Captain Cook R. N. the Resolute Mariner
by Thomas Vaughan and A. A. St. C. M. Murray-Oliver
from Oregon Historical Society Press
Museum Exhibition Catalog for Adult
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Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
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Captive
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Hans Christian Anderson Award
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Captured!
by Carolyn Paine Miller
1st edition from Christian Herald Books
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Carrie's War
by Nina Bawden
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
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Carver: A Life in Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
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2002 Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Award
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$14.41
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