Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The textbook has some significant issues with its obvious bias and inaccuracies. The illustrations are biased, too. The authors really stretched to make the Tuttle Twins learn about historical moments through sometimes random activities designed by their neighbor/teacher. It didn't work because the focus was mostly on the random activities rather than the historical story. Here are the specifics of the inaccuracies and bias: Page 6 the timeline states 325 the Council of Nicea and the beginning of Roman Catholicism. Roman Catholicism did not start at that council it started at the first Pentecost. The timeline should just say Council of Nicea if the authors disagreed with the beginning of the Catholic Church. p27 "the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church had power over what people believed, which at that time was greater power than all the monarch of Europe." No, not true. Heresies were rampant, which was the reason for the Council of Nicea and others. Church history is full of people thinking for themselves- sometimes erroneously, sometimes helpfully (the Doctors of the Church for example). And, European monarchs were warring and power grabbing all throughout this period. The statement on p27 is trying lead into to the point the authors make that the printing press created the ability for people to think for themselves. The printing press made books and the knowledge contained within them more available and less expensive. However, people have always thought for themselves. p28 states that few people could read the Bible themselves because it hadn't been printed and translated. Actually, people couldn't read because they were illiterate. Books were expensive so learning to read was not possible for most people. However, Monks had been copying the Bible for over a thousand years at that point. And Jerome first translated the Bible into the vulgate (language of the people) in the late 4th century. Then King Henry the 8th is addressed incorrectly. Before he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn, he was a Roman Catholic against the Reformation. He wrote a book condemning Martin Luther, and he was awarded defender of the Roman Catholic faith by the Pope. All this happened before he asked for, and was denied, a divorce by the pope. He started the Church of England after that denial. p29 "that's why the king and pope didn't want people to understand the Bible on their own" (no. The Pope did not want people to mis-understand the bible.) p78 "you're the head of the Anglican Church which was set up in part to create more order and separate the country from the control of the Pope" The Church of England was primarily created by Henry the 8th so he could have his divorce. Those other reasonings are secondary, if that. Overall issue I have with this text is that every time the pope or the Roman Catholic church is mentioned, the text has removed or doesn't mention any positive or even neutral religious motivations. The text does address the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, John Knox and other protestant figures in a positive light. I've always learned history through examining "God, Glory, and Gold" as motivating factors for historical figures and actions. Disappointingly the "God" motivation (spreading the love of Jesus Christ) is completely missing from this text's mentions of the popes' and the Roman Catholic Church's actions in history. I truly hope future editions are more accurate in their history, especially when portraying popes' and the Roman Catholic Church's motivations. I emailed Tuttle Twins with these comments. I received a full refund of my purchase so at least they honored their guarantee.