Book Review: The 40 Most Infulential Christians {Bethany House}

The 40 Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today by Daryl Aaron
ISBN: 9780764210846
Paperback, 304 pages
Publisher: Bethany House
Retail: $14.99

About the book (from the back cover):

Learn from the greatest teachers and thinkers in Christian history. The Bible is the bedrock of Christian belief, yet how Christians think and talk about God, the Bible, and faith has been shaped by influential thinkers from the first century right up through the twentieth. In this book, Dr. Daryl Aaron tells the powerful stories of forty who have helped us better understand what we believe and why we believe it. 

With insight-and some surprises-Dr. Aaron explores the lives and most important teachings of these giants of church history, from Justin Martyr and Augustine to Martin Luther, John Calvin, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and many others, underscoring how their teaching has influenced the church-for better, or, occasionally, for worse.

Let your faith be strengthened as you encounter those who paved the way for us, often risking their lives for the sake of the very beliefs we hold today. 

About the Author, Dr. Daryl Aaron (from pg 303):

Daryl Aaron earned his MA at the University of Texas at Dallas, his ThM at Dallas Theological Seminary, his DMin at Bethel Theological Seminary, and his PhD at Graduate Theological Foundation. He spent fourteen years in pastoral ministry and now teaches at Northwestern College, where he is Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies. Dr. Aaron lives in Mounds View, Minnesota, with his wife, Marilyn. They have one daughter, Kimberly, who is a graduate of Northwestern College.  

My thoughts

Absolutely excellent! When the book first was available to me for review, I was somewhat hesitant to select it because to say "the 40 most" is quite specific. The concern I had was that the author, who I've not read any of his works before, would be biased and only include who he thought was beneficial. I will admit that I, after the fact, would like to have more information on the tertiary Christians that he barely mentions, such as Arius when talking about Athanasius, or Chrysostom when talking about Theodore of Mopsuestia. But I gather the reason Aaron only mentions these others are because their contributions were the result of faction, or they were deemed heretical, both of those in regards to Arius, or such as Chyrsostom, the work they contributed was expounded on more fully by later Christians. Even so, these also helped solidify beliefs of Christians. Aaron's words on the title of the book:

Regarding the title of this book...Please understand that I am not under the illusion that I have nailed the definitive top 40 list of theologians...I thought a more accurate title would be 40 of the Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today, in the Humble Opinion of One Particular Writer, but that seemed a little unwieldy to the publisher. Good arguments can be made that some of these should not have made it while others should have. (pg 13)

My thought is that the title would have been perfect if it were written hundreds of years ago! But really I think it would be better without "The". Each of the individuals in the book have indeed had quite a bit of influence on Christian belief; they were most influential, but not the most influential.

The writing style is very easy to follow, even for someone who has very little exposure to 'theology' and/or has a very basic knowledge of theology and church history {that'd be me}. I've read George Hodges' Saints and Heroes to the End of the Middle Ages and his Saints and Heroes Since the Middle Ages, {both of those are Amazon affiliate links} which acquainted me with some of the names in Aaron's book. This book, The 40 Most Influential Christians, actually has forty-two Christians who shaped Christian beliefs. Each chapter starts with a historical setting to give context -we can see where the individual was coming from in life, where they went and who they came into contact with, through their personal life and/or writings and ideas of the time. Next it talks about contributions that were made by the individual. Finally, the author includes a conclusion- this pretty much is how the person's contributions had affected beliefs to that point. Aaron says: 

Regarding format, each chapter will be divided into three main sections with two subparts: context (theological and biographical), contribution (theological and bibliographical), and conclusion (theological and personal)...What is most important in what follows is not getting to know these great Christian thinkers better, nor is it understanding theology better (in and of itself); rather, what is most important is getting to know God better. After all, our Savior, Jesus Christ, commanded us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). There are the stories of Christians who were trying to do that and trying to help others as well. (pg 14, 15)

I learned quite a bit of where a belief of today stemmed from and who spread it, and found it was generally because of their position, but not always. Also, there is a section titled "Brief Interlude: Meanwhile in Rome (or at least in Trent)" where we are enlightened with some beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, which to this point personally I had been fairly unaware. 

Going back to the writing style: for the most part the information is presented in a no-nonsense fashion. The facts are given, the works are offered, a conclusion is made. However, occasionally Aaron inputs his own personal beliefs into this {would you really expect anything different?}, but more often he imbues the information with a little humor. Not much but it is there and I like it. I'll give you an example of both (with my own emphasis added):

As a Protestant and evangelical, I would share these concerns; however, I also appreciate and applaud the intent of Christian mystics overall--to draw closer to God in experiential relationship. (pg 147, "Julian of Norwich, Monastic Mystic")

Scholastic theology at this time focused on the integration of theology (revelation) and philosophy (reason), so it stands to reason (no pun intended) that the thought of Aristotle would attract attention. (pg 135, "Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Doctor")

At the back of the book are two things that I appreciate: Creeds (The Creed of Nicea & The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) & Resources, which includes both primary and secondary sources that I gather Aaron used to write this book. I love being able to read other books or articles on the subject presented in a book I am reading. He does include many footnotes throughout the book as well, which I also like.

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in history of the church and Christianity. I don't imagine those who are partial to the beliefs that were considered heretical (such as Arianism) would find this to be too terribly beneficial, I still think for the sake of knowledge it would be good. I would definitely recommend it to those looking to strengthen their beliefs- whether they agree with the "Christian" beliefs of today or not. I think that going through the book sheds light on why the belief sprang up -we get a glimpse of the brilliance -or lack of- of thought that brought it about. All glory goes to God that allows Christians to be enlightened by his word, the Bible.

One thing I would love to have seen in this book is more. More of the words of the bibliographical contributions of these Christians. More of the "why" they believed the way they did. We are only presented with enough to give us a basic foundation to move onto the next Christian who shaped the beliefs. I do think that in order to do that, though, the author would have to devote much more time and space to each person, as well as include more people. Perhaps that is just asking too much for this sort of introductory work, as I think of it. Or perhaps a book like I mention already exists and another of its kind is not necessary. Perhaps as stated in the introduction to the book, the focus would change too much by including more. Overall, it is a satisfying and good book. 

***Disclaimer: I received the book, The 40 Most Influential Christians Who Shaped What We Believe Today by Dr. Daryl Aaron, for free from Bethany House publishing for the purpose of an honest review. All opinions stated are my own. This post does contain affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.

Book Review: The Tower of Babel {New Leaf Press}

The Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors by Bodie Hodge
ISBN: 9780890517154
Available in many formats, page count 272 pages
Publisher: Master Books
Retail: $13.99

About the book (from NLP):

The Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors reveals our shared ancestry as never before! Many are familiar with the Biblical account of Babel, but after the dispersal, there was a void beyond Biblical history until empires like Rome and Greece arose. Now, discover the truth of these people groups and their civilizations that spread across the earth and trace their roots back to Babel as well as to the sons and grandsons of Noah.  

Many of today’s scholars write off what occurred at the Tower of Babel as mythology and deny that it was a historical event. Beginning with the Biblical accounts, author Bodie Hodge researched ancient texts, critical clues, and rare historic records to help solve the mystery of what became of the failed builders of Babel. For the purpose of defending the Bible, Hodge presents these and other vital historical facts surrounding this much-debated event. Teens and older can use this layman’s reference for Biblical classes, ancient history, apologetics training, and to realize their own cultural connection to the Bible.

 

My thoughts:

Wonderful book! It has been thoroughly researched and includes both sides of this ‘story.’ I won’t go so far as to say it is an unbiased research into this because Bodie Hodge is definitely on the side of the Tower of Babel being an actual historical event, as it is mentioned in the Bible. It is written in a way that is both interesting and accessible. Hodge deals with what is known of languages, uses historic documents and accounts (not just from the Bible), conversations and research from both creationists and evolutions, as well as proponents and opponents of the Tower of Babel being an actual historical event. It has many references in the footnotes; I love that!

When I said that the book is written in an interesting way, here is a snippet from Chapter 16, “By What Means Did Those Scattering from Babel Travel?”

“Well, let’s rule out air travel right from the start! However, it is possible that advanced technology existed in these cultures, such as hot air balloons*. But would such things be used for scattering? Likely not. If anything, such balloons were used for surveying and spotting, if they existed at this time” (pg 103). *he references this in the footnote.

The entire book is interesting and made me want to keep reading. In reference to the above snippet, I would not have even considered air travel in the days of Babel!

I am a Christian who believes the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God. If the Bible says it’s so, I believe it. But when it comes to a book, even when written by an author who also believes that the Bible is inerrant, that is trying to convince readers of something, I expect there to be a lot of concrete evidence. I already know the Bible is true, so for a book to say “the Bible says so” as their argument isn’t going to get me interested in reading the book. Hodge doesn’t do this. He uses the Bible, definitely, but he also has other evidence that supports his claim. Here is an example, from Chapter 12, “Did All ~7,000 Languages Today Come Out of Babel?”

“Both Vista World Languages and Cultures and Ethnologue, companies that provide statistics on languages, agree that there are more than 78 (estimates constantly change but are currently sitting between 94 and 120 languages families). Some groupings include sign languages, and constructed languages that have been developed. With further study in years to come, this may change to a smaller number, but this figure is well within the range of families that dispersed from Babel (Genesis 10)” (pg 68).

A bit later in the chapter, towards the end, he concludes that

“the contrast in the secular view, where we all allegedly evolved from rudimentary ancestors with a single primitive grunting language. This theoretical “proto-language” is not even close to the multitude of root languages that gave rise to languages of today…But let’s clarify a misconception. God is responsible for the languages and it was due to judgment…so is having one language a bad thing? Philo, an early Jewish historian, hit the nail on the head when he said, ‘For it was not the languages which were the causes of men’s uniting for evil objects, but the emulation and rivalry of their souls in wrong-doing’” (pg 73).

He also includes charts and graphics (that when viewed on a Kindle Fire aren’t as good as I’m sure they are in the printed book).

The description says that ‘teens and older’ can use this book, but I’d venture to say that some discerning younger folk may be able to get use for this as well. I really think it is a good book. I intend to recommend it to both of my kiddos, who are both teens.

Now, having said all that (and mentioning that Hodge is definitely on the side of this is an actual historical event- and he is a Christian), if someone is looking for both sides of the story without bias- it won’t be found here. The bias is not hidden in this book. We, the reader, know the agenda of Hodge when it starts out. There are quite a few times that his religious standing is mentioned. Again from chapter 12, he says, “It’s good to be a Christian today, understanding languages from a biblical perspective instead of the world’s faulty ideas” (pg 73). So if you are looking for a book that takes out the Christian aspect and only presents the ‘facts’ without feeling or beliefs, this is not that book. He says,

“When looking at…information, it is good to understand how to categorize it or more properly “give the proper weight” to a source…God is the ultimate authority…Sources outside the Bible can never be trusted with certainty. There is naturally a rank, though. For example, historians’ commentaries can be trusted far more than mythology…(pg 115)”

You can see the table of contents at the Amazon listing here. 

About Bodie Hodge (from NLP):

Bodie attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) and received a BS and MS (in 1996 and 1998 respectively) in mechanical engineering. His specialty was a subset of mechanical engineering based in advanced materials processing, particularly starting powders. 

After earning his master’s degree, he accepted a position of Visiting Instructor at SIUC and started in the fall semester of 1998. He was only 24 years old when he began teaching undergraduate engineering courses at the university. 

While working at Caterpillar, he taught apologetics to junior high and high school students at his local church, which was a natural outcome considering his love for science, history, and theology. He did this until taking a position with Answers in Genesis in 2003. Currently, Bodie is a speaker, writer, and researcher on a host of topics, including fall of Satan and related events.

Bodie was saved when he was nine. As a youngster, he was active in baseball, football and basketball. His hobbies also included hunting and fishing, which are almost unavoidable pursuits while growing up on a farm in Western Illinois. 

***Disclaimer: I received a pdf of the above book free from New Leaf Press in exchange of an honest review. No compensation was given. All opinions stated are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***

Combining Living Books Curriculums

This post won’t be complete as it’s just an idea of what’s in my head at the moment. It’s been there for a while now, actually. I reviewed Yesterday’s Classics back in May 2011 and Heritage History twice, once in October 2011 and again November 2012. Both of those are heavy on living books. In our homeschool we use Ambleside Online which is also heavy on living books.

I am very happy with AO’s curriculum –it’s got great variety and is organized wonderfully. But I also love the books included in both YC and HH. So what’s a history book loving homeschooling mom to do? Combine them, of course!

You knew that was coming.

For Lee who is in 10th grade using AO’s Y9, I really can’t see adding much to what she has on her schedule already without frying her brain causing her to burn out. But for Fox, who is in 8th grade using Y7Lite, there’s room. Lots of room.

With AO we are going through these books for history:

• The Birth of Britain by Winston Churchill
• In Freedom's Cause by G.A. Henty
• The Life of King Alfred by Asser
• and (Personal Recollections of) Joan of Arc by Mark Twain

Here’s what I plan on including in addition to the history readings from AO {some of the books are available from both YC and HH}:

From HH-

• Historical Tales- English- by Morris
• Great Englishmen by Synge
• European Hero Stories by Tappan
• and In the Days of William the Conqueror by Tappan (or William the Conqueror by Abbott)

From YC-

• The Little Duke by Yonge
• Men of Iron by Pyle
• Streams of History: The Middle Ages by Kemp
• and The Story of the Middle Ages by Harding

Why do I feel the need to add more to what is already on AO’s schedule? First and foremost I don’t, but because both of my kids like to read and unfortunately, it’s difficult to find good books nowadays that engage and stimulate their minds, I will. It is a lot of twaddle that’s written today. I figure if they can read books that are about real people, events and/or locations that do engage and stimulate their minds, all the better. Both of my kids really liked the inclusion of so many different perspectives and accounts of history that are found in both YC and HH. But I won’t be leaving AO

As the year goes on, I’m sure I’ll add more books from the collections I have from HH and YC to AO.

**And because I am an affiliate with Heritage History I want to let you know that they have a discount going on right now –through January 31, 2013 –when you purchase any of their classical history curriculums {retail $24.99}, you can receive the Early America library for free {retail $19.99}. You have to put both in your cart and enter BLOSSOM3 at checkout.**

And now, I have to get back to getting the schedules finished. School starts back up January 7th!

King Alfred’s English {Schoolhouse Review Crew}

King Alfred’s English by Laurie J. White
ISBN: 9780980187717; ASIN: B00892AXAI
Format: ebook –172 page count (according to Amazon); paperback –150 page count (according to CBD)
Publisher: The Shorter Word Press
Age range: 12-adult
Retail: ebook –$5.95; paperback –$16.95

[M]ost of us go through our entire life speaking a highly complex and organized set of sounds we call language without ever getting a glimpse under its hood. So come have a look at some of the hidden springs and gears that have steered and energized English over the centuries. King Alfred’s English provides a guided tour of forces and events, conquerors and writers that have shaped, simplified, matured and expanded English into what it is today—the first truly global language in history. from the website

I love history and am quick becoming a lover of languages as well. Neither of these were very strong subjects for me in my younger years but thankfully both of my kids have taken a liking to these {not both at the same time but the desire is there- I can tell *wink*}. Through the Schoolhouse Review Crew *I* was chosen to review this language-history book from The Shorter Word (Laurie J. White). This is suitable for ages 12 and up but I decided to selfishly kindly review this book on my own. Now that I’ve read it, I know that it will be something we will add into our studies. I’ve read snippets here and there out loud to my kids and my dd wants to read this, just because. That’s good!

Language has always been and the history of it is {or can be} fascinating! The book goes along like this:

• Part I- Pre-English Britain: 55 B.C. to 500 A.D.
• Part II- Old English: 500 to 1066…
• Part III- Middle English: 1066 to 1500…
• Part IV- A Time of Transition- From Middle to Modern English: 1400 to 1600 (or thereabouts)…
• Part V- The Making of the English Bible: 1526 to 1611…
• Part VI- Shakespeare and Modern English: From 1500 Onward

See the Table of Contents. Don’t you just love those titles…well, I certainly did!

I definitely learned more about the English language –some of which I could never have even imagined. The tone throughout this book is one that pulls you into the ‘story’ of language. The author is writing from a Christian perspective. White says,

“Language could not have developed from caveman grunts to complex linguistic structures, at least not without intentional supernatural input…Completely taken for granted by all of us most of the time, language is an astonishingly complex medium of exchange for our ideas and thoughts. More than anything else, language is a gift, and it was given to us by the One who most desires to communicate with us.”

In high school and probably elementary as well, I learned the Greek {and Latin} root words for many of the words we have now. But I definitely didn’t learn about the Old Norse {Vikings}, Indian {India}, Jute {Germans?}, French, and many more that influenced our English. Or how about that a good portion of our current language is from made-up words…from Shakespeare?

Read how this book was born and why the author feels it is beneficial for students before college.

Read the first chapter.

Supplemental student and teacher pages. Find images, articles, videos, primary sources, and literature related to each chapter. Also click on the teachers page to find worksheets, tests and answers. She also gives a suggested minimum requirements to get 1/2 credit of history or 1/4 credit for history, 1/4 credit for English.

Resources list for this book.

Contact:
Website: http://www.theshorterword.com
Email: laurie@theshorterword.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/King-Alfreds-English/141706569183562?v=wall?v=wall

***********************************

My thoughts:

Great book! I was able to ‘get into’ this from the first page. It just so happens that this is the time period that my ds and I are learning about now for his 8th grade history. I love when that happens. Honestly even if we were not studying the same period of time, the topic is one that I find to be interesting. White writes in an engaging way as well. She uses what I would consider an average level of words throughout majority of the book- this isn’t an article in an academic journal! But she does switch it up and use some more challenging language when it is called for especially to get her point across about language.

I appreciate that it is from a Christian perspective. It does have some portions that would appear to be anti-Catholic but it is in reference to buying salvation from long ago. It’s history and it has it’s place in this study of language. Also a large portion of the book {an entire “Part”} is dedicated to the creation of the English Bible; the various translations and those who did the translating- where they got the ‘original’ works to use for translations, etc. Some may find that part to be drawn out.

Although I did not do more than read over and save the worksheets that are linked on the website, I can definitely see this book and other resources being put to use in our homeschool. We will most likely utilize narration rather than worksheets. The inclusion of so many other resources is impressive on a topic that some would find dreary {did you know that word originally was meant as something dripping or covered in blood then it changed to refer to something horrid- now it means dull}.

This gets a hearty recommendation from me to those who are interested in history and the English language. It would make a good addition as a course itself or a supplement to a current course.

I almost forgot to let my readers know that I have 5 codes available to me to give to 5 of my readers- the code lets you purchase the print book for $8.47 –that’s 1/2 off the retail! ***The first 5 people who comment that they want to have the code will receive it via email from me {thanks to Laurie J. White!}.***

Read other reviews from other Schoolhouse Review Crew members- click on the image below.

***Disclaimer: I received the above ebook from The Shorter Word (Laurie J. White) via the Schoolhouse Review Crew for free in exchange of an honest review. No other compensation was given. Thank you! All opinions stated are my own. I only recommend products that I truly feel would be beneficial for others based on my own personal experiences. See Disclosure/Policies.***

If We Don’t Pay Attention to the Past…

…we are bound to repeat the mistakes!

Ah…history. Lovely history.

What?!  You don’t feel that history is wonderful? Well, you’re not alone! History for me personally was always a boring subject in school. Memorize names and dates, take tests on said memorized information and then move on. And promptly forget it. That’s how it was done.

But I don’t feel that way now. I love history. I love it some much I tried to major in it in college {turns out I only got to minor in it but most of my studies were history centered}. I was fortunate to find an instructor that made history more interesting {mostly by his own personality, I might add} and the rest is, well, history. *wink*

Now I get to choose what we use for history, and that means I can find what is interesting. This week’s theme for the TOS Blog Cruise is “What is your favorite history resource?”

We use all mostly living books for our history study. The reason is they are just more interesting and we can recall the person and event better with these. We still don’t always get the date

There is a plethora of free resources online that are history oriented but there are also some great for cost products that I think are great investments. Here are just a few of my favorites –I cannot be expected to choose just one!{free and cost}:

• Of course my favorite resource of my favorites is most likely Ambleside Online because that’s where I go to first to find what books would be good to use for living books history.
• Heritage History- this site offers books that can be read for free online or you can purchase ebooks (quite inexpensively). These are all books that were written prior to 1923. They also have full history curriculum- book lists, maps, summary; it’s all included!
• Truth Quest History- although I’ve just recently been exposed to this curriculum, I’m liking it for it’s Biblical view of history. It also has given me more books to include in our studies- many of them ‘living’ books.
• Book lists- there are a few here that I’ve found that I go back to when looking for good living books.
• Paula’s Archive has living books listed by different time periods as well as some video supplements.
• Penny Gardner is always a great resource for living books.
• Bringing Up Learners has a resources list that I’ve used to find some good history books. They also offer a free curriculum utilizing the books on the list.
• Websites:
• History Matters- this is a very good resource for US History. It includes many personal accounts and primary documents throughout US history.
• Primary Access- another site for primary documents. I’ve not used this very often {seem to forget it’s there!}.

And some closing thoughts (that I would like to think I would have had eventually *wink*):

"By dismissing the past or by giving it only cursory textbook treatment, modern education produces students whom T.S. Eliot called "provincials of time." These students regard the past with ignorant condescension, assuming that all its scant benefits, through some mysterious process of progressive evolution, have been retained, while its evils have for the most part been shed away. They are infected with the fever of progress, supposing that the mere passage of time acts like a great threshing machine, discarding the chaff and preserving the wheat. Whatever kernels of truth this world ever possessed are somewhere in the loaf now being proffered by science. Nor, in this condition, can the young stomach the medicine of the past, with its stern warnings and meticulous instructions for human improvement printed on the label. In a school predicated only upon science, the student can be nothing more than what he is. That, to be sure, can be developed- and human development results from yielding to certain inner patterns of truth (to which only the psychiatrist is privy), not from imposing the crushing obligations of a historical dogma or of an Ideal Type. The student is not asked to bear any responsibility for a past from which he is intellectually and existentially cut off."
David Hicks
Norms and Nobility (cited at Higher Up and Further In)

"The object of children's literary studies is not to give them precise information as to who wrote what in the reign of whom? -- but to give them a sense of the spaciousness of the days, not only of great Elizabeth, but of all those times of which poets, historians and the makers of tales, have left us living pictures. In such ways the children secure, not the sort of information which is of little cultural value, but wide spaces wherein imagination may take those holiday excursions deprived of which life is dreary; judgment, too, will turn over these folios of the mind and arrive at fairly just decisions about a given strike, the question of Poland, Indian Unrest. Every man is called upon to be a statesman seeing that every man and woman, too, has a share in the government of the country; but statesmanship requires imaginative conceptions, formed upon pretty wide reading 'and some familiarity with historical precedents. " --Charlotte Mason (cited at Charlotte Mason Helps)

Have a look at others favorite History resources by traveling along with the TOS Blog Cruise 4/3/12.

What are some of YOUR favorites?

Day #108 & 109- History, Nature Study, Home Ec, Science, and P.E.

Monday I worked until 4pm and the kids did…nothing Well, that isn’t entirely true. They read. A lot. Percy Jackson books mostly. Would that count as historical fiction? They are well versed by now in mythology.

It was a pretty ‘lost’ day in regards to school. We watched a show on the Greeks. More ‘history’

Today, Tuesday, really hasn’t been much better. We did some grocery shopping and the kids picked out fruit {weighed it as well- does that all count as home economics??}. The weather today is amazingly warm. Right now the kids are outside playing- and scrounging apparently {physical education?}.

They brought in a buckeye seed (not the one pictured, my batteries are dead) and so we looked up some info about that. {nature study??}

I think we will watch some How It Works (or is it How It’s Made?- well, whichever) later tonight, after dinner. {Would those fit in with science??}

So…can I count them as school days? Yes, I certainly can and will. They just were not as good as I’d planned {by that I mean not as full of actually doing school- learning always takes place}.

That’s been our last two days of school. Tomorrow might be better

Book Review: Sherman, The Ruthless Victor

Sherman, The Ruthless Victor by Agostino Von Hassell and Ed Breslin
ISBN: 978-1595551337 (hardback)
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Retail: $19.99

Ruthless and downright heartless is what I learned Sherman to be in history classes. However, that was always limited to his involvement in the Civil War, specifically Sherman’s March to the Sea. Van Hasselll and Breslin try to give a glimpse into the life of Sherman before the Civil War and show how that life affected his actions and after.

The book itself was not a chore to read but there were occasions when the writing style was inconsistent. In chapter 5, long after we have been introduced to the Ewings (Sherman’s foster family) we are then given the information that many Ewings went by nicknames. At no point earlier had this information been supplied and seemed out of place. Many times in the beginning years the author(s) make comments and give information about Sherman’s life as it would be many years later, and then add that he wouldn’t come upon that for x amount of years. I felt that they could have left the ‘giveaways’ out and just continued with the story.

I did enjoy how the author incorporated the events that took place although they didn’t directly affect Sherman (because actually almost all the references did indeed affect him), or he was not directly involved with them. Names of historic individuals help me to make the biography more concrete (since I have heard many of the names before- such as Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and William Henry Harrison) and not just a ‘story’.

I am very interested to read some of the books included in the bibliography because I would like to know how conclusions were come to- such as Sherman’s aversion to being a foster child of the Ewings’ among other things. There were definitely aspects of his life that I was unaware of as well as his personality.

The book was done well enough and I am looking forward to reading more of The General Series. I have also read Patton and Lee of the series and enjoyed them. *I received this book free in exchange for an honest review- no compensation was given.*

Heritage History Classical Curriculum- Review {Ancient Greece, British Middle Ages, Young Readers Teacher’s Guide}

“Putting the story back into History”

Recently, I was given the opportunity to review Heritage History’s new Classical Curriculum. I will often refer to this as HHCC in this post. Here’s a little information on Heritage History and their new curriculum (from the website):

“…the primary goal of Heritage History is not to reiterate a set of stories that "all students should know", but rather to engage students' genuine interest and instill a life-long passion for history.”