Crash course for 20th Century history?

[Tohru]

Any recommendations for a crash course in 20th Century World/American History middle school level?

 

Primarily we want take a short break to cover WWI and WWII and then go back to studying our Ancients. Secular is a major plus, but not necessary.

 

I've considered the Hakim's A War, Peace, and All that Jazz, but wasn't sure if it only covered America or if it included World history too.

 

Any ideas or suggestions?

[Tohru]

Anyone?

[missmoe]

How about using DK's 20th Century Day by Day?

 

My dd enjoyed this last year.

[jlovebaker]

but I'll double check - yup American focus. Have you used SOTW no. 4? Basic but could be a quick read (used in Sonlight Core 7 - there's some great books in that Core) ... Also check out Sonlight's 20th Century course -http://www.sonlight.com/300.html. It's for high school students.

 

You might want to get a copy of their print catolog to check out the wonderful booklists. I love perusing the books and have enjoyed many of them with my kids and on my own.

[Lori D.]

Here are a few ideas, all secular:

 

 

For a real crash course, how about Usborne's "The Usborne History of: The Twentieth Century" (Hopkinson), which covers key events, people, inventions, ideologies, etc of the 20th century in a series of 39 two-page spreads. (Very nice little timeline by decade in the back!) See it at: http://www.amazon.com/Usborne-History-Twentieth-Century-Modern/dp/0746007019/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263948493&sr=1-2

 

 

And for more detail for the United States during the 20th century: "Our Century in Pictures for Young People" (Stolley), put out by Life magazine publishers. Divided up by decade, with an introductory essay to help understand the tone and way of thinking of each decade, followed by lots of great iconic photos from the magazine, with captions, and more text-bites of key people and events. See it at: http://www.amazon.com/LIFE-Century-Pictures-Young-People/dp/0316815896/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263948445&sr=8-1

 

 

Another very helpful and visual resource -- but one that is a little harder to really use or read all the way through -- is "The Visual History of the Modern World" (Burrows). Also about the 20th century, and also divided up by decade, but then further divided up year by year, with lots of photos, and written up more as a series of headlines and short newspaper articles; very nice timeline down the outside margins of page.

 

So on the 2-page spread for 1927 for example, there are 4 stories that were the top journalism stories of the year (Lindbergh Flies into History with Solo Flight; Murderers or Martyrs (2 Italian anarchists); Birth of Talking Pictures (Al Jolson in "The Jazz Singer"); and Rise and Fall of the Black Moses (Marcus Garvey, Jamaican pioneer of black nationalism); each with a headline and photo (with caption), and a 3-6 paragraph newspaper-style article. Along the outside margins are "News in Brief" timeline entries by month, with 2-6 entries per month on everything from sports to disasters to politics to people to events.

 

See it at: http://www.amazon.com/Visual-History-Modern-World/dp/1847323359/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263949018&sr=1-1

 

 

And as a strictly "just for fun" resource to check out of the library, what about the Larry Gonick "Cartoon History of..." series of books? Ascerbic comments on a variety of key events and people in editorial cartoon style, from the French Revolution to the Persian Gulf War (Modern World), or English Colonies to Gulf War (US History). As with ALL history books, this one too, has a bias -- this bias is just a bit more weighted to one side than other history books (hence, the editorial cartoon type of approach to history); it is quite liberal and political-correct in approach to US history, and quite American-centric in looking at the rest of the world.

Cartoon History of the United States = http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-United-States-Gonick/dp/0062730983/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Cartoon History of the Modern World part 2: Bastille to Baghdad = http://www.amazon.com/Cartoon-History-Modern-World-Part/dp/0060760087/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Edited January 20, 2010 by Lori D.
added info

[Amy C]

The Human Odyssey: From Modern Times to Our Contemporary Era

 

This is the third volume in the series from K12. I can't tell you much about it, because I just received my copy today (purchased on Amazon used). It looks just like what I have been looking for though - a decent, well organized spine that I can add literature, History of the US, etc. to.

 

 

Amy

[AngelBee]

:lurk5:

[2cents]

You might check out:

http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.com/

Look under unit studies. They have a 20th century unit. It looks quick and easy. We just ordered it today since we needed a fast review for upcoming testing. I have a 6th & 7th grader.

[Matryoshka]

The Human Odyssey: From Modern Times to Our Contemporary Era

 

This is the third volume in the series from K12. I can't tell you much about it, because I just received my copy today (purchased on Amazon used). It looks just like what I have been looking for though - a decent, well organized spine that I can add literature, History of the US, etc. to.

 

 

:iagree: I was gonig to suggest that too!

[Corraleno]

The Human Odyssey: From Modern Times to Our Contemporary Era

 

:iagree:

This is the 9th grade history text from K12, the third volume in their excellent Human Odyssey series. It's not huge (~370 pp of text), very readable, and covers all the bases. The ISBN is 1601530188, it's hardcover and you can find it used for around $40 or so.

 

Jackie

[Tohru]

Thank you so much for all the responses.

 

And Lori D. WOW! Mucho Gracias for the links and reviews! Burrow's looks perfect.

 

Mismoe, I found the DK guide for pretty cheap, but I can't believe how much some people wanted for it though.

 

I'll look around for the Human Odyssey, but it is a little more than I want to spend since I've bought so much already and we're still in January. lol!

 

Again, Thanks so very much everyone! This group is awesome :grouphug: