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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1776
by David McCullough
from Simon and Schuster
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18 Penny Goose
An I Can Read Book Level 3
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2012 Dover from Dover Publications
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Abe Lincoln Grows Up
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Abraham Lincoln
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Abraham Lincoln: Great Speeches
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Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
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$2.00
Across America on an Emigrant Train
by Jim Murphy
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1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
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Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
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1965 Newbery Honor Book
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Across Five Aprils
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1965 Newbery Honor Book
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Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
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Adoniram Judson
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Puffin Classics
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2023 Caldecott Honor Book
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Air Raid - Pearl Harbor!
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Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.99
Alamo All Stars
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Albert Schweitzer
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All He Knew
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All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
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$8.99
All Thirteen
by Christina Soontornvat
from Candlewick Press
Daring Rescues for 4th-7th grade
2021 Newbery Honor Book, 2021 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
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$24.99
All-of-a-Kind Family
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
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All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown
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by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Beth & Joe Krush
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$12.95
Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
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Along Came Galileo
by Jeanne Bendick
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Amazing Grace
by Eric Metaxas
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$15.99
Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
by Cheryl Harness
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Amelia Earhart: Young Aviator
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Beatrice Gormley
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$7.99
America and Vietnam
by Albert Marrin
from Beautiful Feet Books
Historical Non-Fiction for 7th-10th grade
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$13.95
America's Paul Revere
by Esther Forbes
from Sandpiper Books
Biography for 2nd-6th grade
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$12.99
America: From Gridlock to Deadlock
A Basic History of the United States Volume 6
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$19.00
American Civil War
by John Keegan
from Vintage Books
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$18.95
American History for Young Students III
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 1st-6th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
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$29.95
American History Stories Volume 1
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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$11.95
American History Stories Volume 2
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
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from Yesterday's Classics
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$11.95
American Plague
by Jim Murphy
from Clarion Books
for 4th-8th grade
2004 Newbery Honor Book, 2004 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, NCTE Orbi Pictus Award
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$21.99
American Revolution
Landmark Series
by Bruce Bliven
from Random House
Historical Non-fiction for 5th-8th grade
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American Revolution
America at War Series
by Alden Carter
from Grolier Publishing
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Amistad - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
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from Dover Publications
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$3.95
Amos Fortune, Free Man
by Elizabeth Yates, illustrated by Nora S. Unwin
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
1951 Newbery Medal winner
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$7.99
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?
by Jean Fritz & Margot Tomes
from PaperStar Books
Biography for 2nd-4th grade
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$7.99
And There Was Light
by Jacques Lusseyran
Third Edition from New World Library
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$18.95
Angel Knew Papa and the Dog
by Douglas Kaine McKelvey
from Rabbit Room Press
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$12.99
Angel on the Square
by Gloria Whelan
from HarperCollins
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Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
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$14.95
Anne Bradstreet
by Heidi L. Nichols
from P&R Publishing
Biography for 10th-Adult
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Anne Bradstreet
Christian Renegades Series
by Doug Wilson
3rd edition from Canon Press
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$16.95
Annie Oakley: Young Marksman
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ellen Wilson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
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$7.99
Annotated Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, edited by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
Annotated from W. W. Norton and Co.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
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$35.00
Answering the Cry for Freedom
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Antique Airplanes - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
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$5.99
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Dover Coloring Books
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$4.99
Apples to Oregon
by Deborah Hopkinson
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
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$8.99
Architecture
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by Pat Perrin
from History Compass
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$7.95
Arguing about Slavery
by William Lee Miller
from Vintage Books
for Adult
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$17.95
Ark, The
by Margot Benary-Isbert
2021 Revision from Purple House Press
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$23.00
Arrow Over the Door
by Joseph Bruchac
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Art for Children: Renaissance
Art for Children
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Art Appreciation for 4th-6th grade
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Artist of the Reformation
by Joyce McPherson
from Greenleaf Press
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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$12.95
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Dover Thrift Editions
by Benjamin Franklin
from Dover Publications
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Autobiography of George Muller
by George Muller
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Biography for 11th-Adult
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$9.99
Avion My Uncle Flew
by Cyrus Fisher, illustrated by Richard Floethe
from Purple House Press
for 5th-7th grade
1947 Newbery Honor Book
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$13.95
Awakening of Europe
Story of the World Series #3
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
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$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Awakening of Europe
Story of the World Series #3
by M. B. Synge
from Living Book Press
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
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$9.99
Bad News for Outlaws
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
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$19.99
Ballad of Lucy Whipple
by Karen Cushman
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Balloon Boy of San Francisco
by Dorothy Kupcha Leland
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$9.95
Balto and the Great Race
Totally True Adventures
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
1st Printing from Random House Books for Young Readers
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$5.99
Band of Brothers
by Stephen Ambrose, Foreword by Tom Hanks
25th anniversary from Simon and Schuster
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$18.99
Baseball Saved Us
by Ken Mochizuki
from Lee & Low Books
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$9.95
Basher Five-Two
by Scott O'Grady & Michael French
from Yearling
Autobiography for 4th-8th grade
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$6.99
Battle Cry of Freedom
Oxford History of the United States
by James M. McPherson
from Oxford University
for 11th-Adult
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$24.95
Battle of Lexington
by Jonas Clark
from Nordskog Publishing
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$8.50
Battle of Seattle
by Douglas Bond
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$11.99
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