The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 4: The Modern Age: From Victoria's Empire to the End of the USSR

The Story of the World #4

by Susan Wise Bauer

Discover the marvelous stories of the world's modern nations with the newest volume of this read-aloud series.

Where was the Crystal Palace? Who was the Sick Man of Europe? And how did cow fat start a revolution?

Now more than ever, other countries and customs affect our everyday lives—and our children need to learn about the people who live all around the world. Susan Wise Bauer has provided a captivating guide to the history of modern nations all around the world. Written in an engaging, straightforward manner, the final volume of the popular Story of the World series weaves world history into a storybook format, covering major historical events in the years 1850-2000. From the Middle East and China to Africa and the Americas—find out what happened all around the world in the last century and a half. Designed as a read-aloud project for parents and children to share together, The Story of the World includes the stories of each continent and people group.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, School, Education, Childrens, Historical, Audiobook

475 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 17, 2005

About the author

Susan Wise Bauer is an American author, English instructor of writing and American literature at The College of William and Mary, and founder of Well-Trained Mind Press (formerly Peace Hill Press).

Reviews

[Ebookwormy1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

It all started with the introduction. Susan Wise Bauer starts this work with an introduction (like she does with the others) and I was disturbed. It's just a page or two, but it bothered me. The tone communicates these opening words were written at the end of a long, difficult project (which I am sure this was). Perhaps she was too rushed. But after I got over her strong exhortation not to expose a child younger than 4th grade to this material, this is what bothered me:

1) What she said was historically incorrect.
She references a revolution-despotism cycle as inevitable. Yet, the American Revolution did not lead (at least not immediately) to a dictatorial form of government. Is it the exception? Perhaps. Seeing as the audience is primarily North American and we are coming to this introduction having just studied the American Revolution, her assertion struck me as odd at best, inaccurate at worst. Of course, we also hear of the revolution of Canada and it's quest to govern itself within the commonwealth early in this volume. Again, no tyranny there either. Hmmm....

2) What she said was theologically shallow.
The tone of the introduction reflected a despair common to post-modern times. Was Bauer that discouraged, wearied, and despondent about what she had written? And if so, do we want to read/ listen to it? Here the lack of Church History in her coverage of the world is notable. For the only true hope of the world is Jesus himself. Her thoughts reminded me of Ecclesiastes 12:12b-14
"... Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing,whether it is good or evil."

It got worse from there. Capitalism is an exploitative system in Bauer's world, and investors are particularly predatory, not to mention philanthropists who all made their money through oppression and give back to the community merely to assuage their pervasive guilt. While an all-glory-to-the-USDollar approach would have been equally disturbing, the lack of acknowledgment of how a free market system has contributed to the prosperity of individual Americans as well as our international influence was disturbing - especially when so many other communist, socialist states are covered. Nor does she include the massive innovations in technology that the free market system fostered. FDRs New Deal is far to favorably endorsed-to the point of erroneously being credited with pulling the country out of the Depression, an assertion few believe.

I found the chapter on Kennedy concerning. The author rhapsodizes about his idyllic image and how his assassination forced people to face America's challenges. In order to further the prospect of a Kennedy America at peace, chapters preceding the assassination are upbeat (especially for this installment!), and rather negative after - even though many of these topical matters (such as the civil rights movement) predated Kennedy and continued beyond his presidency. I find it hard to believe American's didn't feel the tension of segregation and Jim Crow laws prior to Kennedy's unexpected death -- or that people were oblivious to the Cold War!

Speaking of the Cold War. Bauer didn't seem to ever clarify that the Soviets violated their agreements with the US after WWII and instead of retreating to liberate countries (as the Allies faithfully did), they annexed them. Instead, she spends a lot of time talking about how Americans were 'afraid' of the Soviets as if this was a mere emotional perception or diplomatic misunderstanding. Yet, she doesn't present the Soviet's 'fear' of the Americans. Why? I found myself wanting to tally these terms to get a count. I also thought events in the Middle East were a bit lopsided. It's good to get the Arab point of view on Palestine across, but the Bauer never questions WHY a Palestinian state wasn't formed by Arabs when they had the chance, nor does she explain why the Palestinian refugee crises persists instead of surrounding Arab countries absorbing the displaced (as has happened with numerous other conflicts throughout history)?

This is not to say their weren't high points. I liked the coverage of the decay of the Ottoman Empire and how it affected the balance of power throughout Europe, the brutal transformation of the Belgian Congo to Zaire, the Iranian rebellion, the intricate failures of country partitions, and the discussion of nuclear power.

I consider this series a good supplement but not a main event. Sometimes I think Bauer, like many who have spent much time in books, is too smart in the worldly pursuits for her own good. She loses theological footing and needs to be drawn away from world history to Biblical Study, to re-orientate, reset, and try to approach the material from a Biblical perspective that attempts to perceive how God is moving in the midst of man's foibles and horrors. Discussions of the role missionaries played in freedom movements through the post-colonial world, language transcription and translation efforts as well as humanitarian aid movements that brought massive transfers of wealth and people from the West to third world countries -- all initiatives in which Christians played major roles -- would have gone a long way to presenting hope. Without this, we are in danger of teaching ourselves and our children to despair, just like the world around us.

This despair is hard to miss in light of the change in style. Throughout the series, Bauer has used story to engage us with the historical account, and while there are some glimmers of her whimsical style coming through, by her own admission, she had to eliminate much of that type of content due to the graphic nature of modern time destruction and cruelty. This gives the account a more rigid feeling than previous installments.

Finally, I have noticed that the closer you get to modern times, the more difficult it is to agree with another person's perception of the historical record. While we have enough perspective to declare authoritatively that the Peloponnese War weakened the Greek city states, we are still debating the merits of a free market economy, nuclear power and whether or not American influence in the world is positive. Our personal connection to these events renders us far more opinionated about recent Presidents, or even FDR or JFK, than we are about Alexander the Great (who was responsible for a lot of warring and conquering). In previous installments, I was content with Bauer's presentation as "good enough," but in Volume III: The Early Modern Age, we started to diverge and now in Volume IV, I find our journey together uncomfortable at best and can no longer recommend her path to others. In fact, I was relieved when we were finished.

Ultimately, I have discovered Story of the World to be a secular series for Christians. It won't attack your faith or demean it like many secular history accounts will, and that has value to educating our children. However, it also will not particularly strengthen your faith or inspire you with God's movement through history or the lives of the saints who have gone before. I am in pursuit of a world history for children that both respects and inspires....

I have recently discovered a title that contradicts the robber baron mentality of Bauer's coverage of Gilded Age entrepreneurship. See,
The Myth of the Robber Baron, Folsom, 1991
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Want to start at the beginning of the series, see
The Story of the World: Ancients, Wise Bauer, 2006
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bauer's Story of the World continues to be excellent (and Jim Weiss continues to be a great narrator). I ignored the recommendation to only use the book with kids 4th grade and up, and for the first 3/4 of the material, I think that was a good decision for our family. But I did stop a few chapters early--we made it past WWII, but didn't go much further. When we make it back to this book in 4 years, I think all my girls will be much more able to understand.

This book was *supposed* to last us all year for history. Clearly that didn't happen. So we'll be adding in other history books for the rest of the year to finish things out.

Update, 7/13/26:
Four years later and we finally cycled back to SotW #4. This time around, the kids were old enough to actually finish it.

Modern history is not my favorite--the closer we get to current events the more suspicious I am that textbook writers are carefully presenting events in ways that most align with their personal political ideology--but I appreciate Bauer's attempt at a balanced approach that tries to include as much of the world as she can.

[Ava · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ambleside Online schedule had me reading a ton per week, and it was A LOT. And some of it is boring, and some parts it's like, I just don't care. But certain parts inspired very good conversations with Dad, who loves history and watches all sorts of documentaries on this kind of thing, and he told me a lot of things that the book didn't tell me that makes it so much more interesting. It's not so much the book itself, but what I learned from talking about it... That probably doesn't make too much sense, but it made me like the book a little more.

[Camden · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

I only read the 2nd half but I’m still going to count it as read, this was actually the most enjoyable history book I’ve read. 3.5 stars

[Caroline Norris]

My son (age 11) and I really enjoyed reading this for modern history, even though this was the saddest period of history we’ve studied so far, with changing warfare, genocide, and the spread of destructive political and social ideologies. This book did a good job of helping us piece together the threads of different political movements and how ideas have consequences, and reading it alongside books like Animal Farm was eye-opening (good pairing, AmblesideOnline!!).

[shiloh]

for school :/ it was alright, I enjoyed reading it, but it took me a long time to get through (I take full responsibility for that though, lol)

[M.K. Laffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, detailed history curriculum. I have been doing this curriculum since I was very young and it had always been very understandable.

[Peter Krol · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not nearly as interesting as the first three volumes, except for the fact that the history was much more recent. But Bauer unfortunately abandons her usual narrative style for a more matter-of-fact style. I'm glad I listened to this audio book along with the others, but I probably won't return to this volume as I do to the others.

[Emily Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very impressed by how much is packed into this volume, and by how clearly some very complicated topics are presented. It worked very well for our middle schoolers, along with the exercises and map work from the activity guide.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good. I've read aloud the other three and this year finished the series.

[Kelhi Herring · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve used the earlier books in this series in class with students, and last year gave this to a student who is preparing for the GED so that he could increase his knowledge of modern world history. When he was done, I thought, “Why not?” And what a good read. Very age appropriate (middle school, or light reading for a high schooler), and I like the wide selection of events covered (not just Europe, the USA, and Asia, but also South America and Africa). There were a few events covered in here that I had never heard of (I clearly need to do more reading on modern southern South American history). This also brought to mind some books I’d like to get or events I’d like to learn more about. Occasionally, I was surprised by some of the ideas or interpretations she put forward (frankly, not as conservative as I was expecting), but I don’t think that’s a reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. It’s almost refreshing, as a (loosely defined) conservative (for whatever that’s worth), to read something a little uncomfortable. Moreover, this book makes great bedtime reading because it’s informative, straightforward, and easy for an adult.

[Joanna Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used as history spine school year 25-26 with student sheets and paper dolls. Ends around 80s (think of what to do with that next time). Second half almost totally just record of wars and world leaders, some kids really got tired of the war element. I often thought this one in particular needs a companion volume of people who helped. I dug about one per chapter up on my own but it took time. Used alongside Extra History and Crash Course.

[Michelle Fournier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this modern history volume of Story of the World. I have not read the others, but this was a very interesting and informative and quite readable look at more recent ‘historical’ events. And a great discussion starter about many of the current events in our world today and why conflict is still on-going in so many areas of the world. Read for our homeschool history.

[María Elena Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 My son loves this series. We spent two terms reading it and it was perfect as our first introduction to the Modern Age. The maps alongside the chapters were helpful but I would preferred some of them more detailed.
It is a thick book that I recommend to read slower due to all the episodes it covers.

[Erin Milham]

Yes this is a school book, but I'm going to count it towards my reading goal because of how much effort I put into it this year. It was slow going but it gives a really good overview of the last 200 years.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids and I always look forward to reading history. We have really enjoyed these books so much.

[Julie Mabus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Y5&Y6 for AO. This book was good summary of the major events of the 20th century. I learned a lot from the book even thought it was written for children.

[Jamie Mun · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very easy and interesting to read and it included details of history that isn’t well-known but still attracts your attention and makes you curious about lots of history. The one thing that would give it just a little less than 5 stars is because the sentences use far too many exclamation marks. It is bound to be useful in history when I go to high school.

[Bobbiann Markle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book with my son for homeschool history (AmblesideOnline Year 6). It's well written and quite interesting, but a lot to squeeze into one term.

[Elizabeth Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview that I use to teach children and teens history. It doesn't have everything in it, but it touches on many important events and people. I enjoy using this as a way to encourage students to find something that interests them and continue to study further.

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this at the same time that my oldest read it to himself for school. The author did a great job of telling about modern history from all parts of the world.

[Anna Hepworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made so many annoyed notes as I read through this book. I'm not going to replicate them here, but summarise a few key points:

* This book is so frustrating, because many countries go unmentioned -- pretty much those with wars (civil or otherwise), or violent changes of government get mentioned.
* Such a geographical and political/warfare based view of history gives an unbalanced feeling, such that there is no nation building without bloodshed. As an example, Ned Kelly gets multiple pages, while Australian Federation is limited to a mention in the timeline in the appendices.
* The very last chapter glosses over a large amount of African history so fast, with barely a mention of a handful of countries. This is in keeping with the treatment of Asia and South America, where many countries are not mentioned at all.

[Stephen Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal world history book for kids (and even adults).
As the subtitle suggests, this book covers global events from the mid 1800s to the early 1990s. I found it to be fair and evenhanded, while not getting bogged down in details that can be found in later research, nor giving a centric view from just one country. I find this refreshing as it becomes more and more apparent that history books written for youth, or popular history books for adults, are predominantly viewed through the lens of the American Empire. I also don’t know if I could succeed, if challenged, to present such a concise narration without diving into pet issues.
And that brings me to the next thing I really appreciated about this book. Rather than a text book, history is presented in a story telling narrative, and it is fantastic.

Several universal truths are smartly placed within these historical facts as well. The author mentions and gives evidence that:
- Violence is not random.
- All revolutionaries turn into violent dictators.
- New propaganda is incentivized by war profiteering.
- Diplomacy looks polite, but countries will agree to terms because they know a war will start if they do not.

Controversial events (like the atomic bombings, Palestine, and the American Civil War) are handled well, presenting multiple sides in a quick summary. What’s objectively bad is called bad, and motives are stated per historical record.

My one content complaint is in the small part about the sinking of the Lusitania. It accurately says the Lusitania didn’t have soldiers aboard, but neglects to mention that it was known to the involved governments then, and common knowledge today, that it was smuggling munitions for the war.

Nevertheless, it is a wonder how the author accurately wrote about so many events in these relatively small summations. Even though the book ends in the early 1990s, the Afterword mentions 9/11, and that it wasn’t in the book because it’s still (at the time of its writing) a current issue, but if we understand the events that are documented, maybe it will help us understand the “current chaos.” That is well stated, and well received.

⚠️Parental Warning ⚠️
The preface warns of violent content for younger readers, due to the majority of events being war, but I didn’t find anything relayed in a way that seemed very descriptive or gratuitous. War deaths and other atrocities like the holocaust and genocide are mentioned, but not in a graphic way.
There aren’t any inappropriate topics or language. At most, Ethiopia is quoted as a “hellhole,” and Rasputin’s exploits are left as “someone who drank too much, went to wild parties, and lived for pleasure and money.”

[Amy Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Bauer's first and second volumes and almost loved the third. As the volumes get older and more to modern times, I find them more fact-filled, and therefore not as memorable. In her concision and clarity, she loses some of the memorable beauty of story-telling in her latter two volumes. She does give that disclaimer about this book, and it's true. I also thought she came across a little bit too liberal politically for my taste: I'm not sure if she is liberal or if she was just trying to be objective. I bet the latter. Because for example, she DID include the horrors of the Holocaust, but then turned around, and came across way too sympathetic for the Palestinians in the establishment of a Jewish nation. Watch PragerU. Dennis Prager explains how there could be peace today with the Palestinians, but they don't want it. She also credits FDR for pulling the country out of the Depression, which may be how it seemed at the time, but Economics in One Lesson by Hazlitt says that you should consider the long-term effects of your economic decisions, and FDR more than probably any other president ruined our country with debt, bloated government, and the income tax!! She was a little weird about JFK, too, as if the country changed after his death. The country did change, for sure, after the 60s, but I thought it was strange to tie that to JFK's assassination? Anyway. She did a great job at helping to explain the whole Balkan mess and WW1. Unfortunately, I still can't remember why in the world there was a WW1!! I don't know of a better resource for kids, though, so this will still be our choice the next time around. I like all of the activity guide helps as well!!

My boys will be done with this in October. They're reading on their own--immersion reading with the audio--and I listened to the audio ahead of them, so I knew what they were learning and I could learn as well. However, I often thought that I would have better retention if I read it myself rather than just listening.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars & 4/10 books. This is the best of the series. It has little “talking down to children,” it’s interesting, it’s humorous, it’s well-written, and it’s honest, but it’s not overwhelming. I was irritated by the attitude towards the British (making them sound stupid & nasty), but she did admit that the Americans messed up too. There were a couple times when she spelled “god” with a capital G when speaking of the Muslim & Sikh god. I enjoy reading this book and read it for pleasure. 

A Favourite Humorous Quote: “[The Japanese army] offered to smuggle [the dethroned Chinese emperor]  into Manchuria [where] he could become the emperor of a Japanese Empire in China, called Manchukuo. Puyi accepted[, so the officers put him on a ship, landed him in Manchuria, and] immediately announced that Puyi would be the Chief Executive off the new country Manchukuo.
“Nobody was particularly happy about this. The Chinese said that Manchukuo was an unreal country, a fairy tale, and that Puyi was a traitor. Puyi was indignant, because he had thought he would be made emperor. “Chief Executive” was not nearly as interesting a job. The Japanese government in Tokyo was unhappy with the army’s actions—but was afraid of too much resistance…. China appealed to the League of Nations. The League of Nations, after hearing the whole story[,] announced that Japan was at fault, and should withdraw from China. Instead, Japan simply left the League of Nations. But both Italy and Germany (neither of which was very fond of the League of Nations) agreed to recognize the new country of Manchukuo as a real nation.”

[Lori Scheffler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it very difficult to pick a star rating. I loved using this as the basis for our homeschool history curriculum. Its breadth is laudable and nearly every day I said to myself, "Why didn't I learn this in school?!" There is so much covered and we loved diving into the topics that intrigued us the most. Therein lies my rub. We found inaccuracies when we dug. The biggest I found was in reference to Nikita Khruschev where the author combined two incidents separated by 4 years into one incident rendering them both innacurate. In an earlier volume I had noticed another inaccuracy after diving deeper on our own so this second one caused me to question her sources. That's when I realized there are no bibliography or references listed anywhere. Normally I would say this omission is unforgivable in a history text. However, it must not be, because I plan to continue to use this text to study history with my younger kids in years to come, just taking it with a grain of salt.

[Abigail Westbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this aloud for homeschool and it gave us a chance for many discussions. It is not really a Christian book as one might expect, seeming to leave out most/all of Christian historical events and not giving any Biblical commentary what was covered. Being as short as it is, and covering this many years of recent history, it’s not surprising that a ton would have to be left out - yet the lack of Christian perspective began to leave us feeling discouraged as we read of country after country experiencing a cycle of uprising and revolt followed by despotism and tyranny.

I don’t regret reading this book at all (and I would say the accompanying activity book is an excellent resource!) - but definitely don’t read this as your kids’ ONLY history exposure. We supplemented with a bunch of other books and appreciated the variety of perspectives. Always be willing to look at many sources and keep an open discussion going!

[Abrahamus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read out loud to my youngest two boys during the last year or so of homeschooling. This edition covers the close of the Victorian era up through the end of the 20th century. Again, while the emphasis is upon events in the West (as is fitting), very helpful treatment is given to somewhat more obscure and often overlooked (but ultimately crucial) developments in various corners of the globe, including: The Boxer Rebellion and other upheavals in China, The Boer War and other ramifications of European colonialism in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, etc. I occasionally take minor issue with the implied drift of some of the author’s analysis and evaluation of events (which is pretty lightly done in any event), but overall the presentation is solid.

[Adam T. Calvert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susan Wise Bauer concluded her series excellently. Though the content in this fourth volume seems to be nothing other than war after war, she does a great job of explaining many of the details and background leading up to these political and military eruptions.

As usual, for the audio Jim Weiss was an excellent narrator for the book. There is something comforting about his voice even - strangely enough - when he's reading about war.

It was a good series, and a great conclusion. I look forward to when there's been enough passage of time for her to write even a fifth volume, if our Lord tarries and so wills.

[Volksmarine DDR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Citate from the book: "Lenin dealt with the czar first. He ordered Nicholas II and his whole family imprisoned in a house in the city of Yekaterinburg, far to the west of Petrograd. Then he sent word to the czar’s guards: Every member of the royal Romanov family had to die"
This statement is outright lie - V.I. Lenin never ordered execution of Romanov family. It was entirely done by Jakow Yurowsky (member of czar's guards) by his own initiative and he didn't inform the bolshevik government in Petrograd about his decision. And, by the way, Yekaterinburg lies far to the east (not west) of Petrograd.