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Title: Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned (Davis, Kenneth C. Don't Know Much.) by Kenneth C. Davis, Jeff Woodman, Jonathan Davis ISBN: 0-7393-0397-X Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (103 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Informative and Entertaining - Lacking Some Basics?
Comment: Having last studied American history in high school, I purchased this book in an attempt to understand the historical roots for our country's current political biases. Is our current foreign policy based on 200 years of fine tuning, or are we simply repeating mistakes from our past?
This book provides useful information on the major events in America's history, and the author's question and answer style turns a potentially dry subject into an entertaining and fast-moving read. Mr. Davis also does an exceptional job of providing "softer" context around each event, enabling the reader to view and analyze our leader's decisions within the intellectual, philosophical, and social frameworks of their time.
My one complaint about the book is that it, perhaps, presumes we know too much of the basics. While giant event descriptions are given more than adequate treatement (e.g. WWI and WWII), Mr. Davis sometimes debunks myth or presents the latest research for smaller happenings without providing basic facts (i.e. who was that guy, exactly?). Still, I was quite happy with the book, and would recommend it to anybody seeking an adult's perspective on our nation's past.
Rating: 3
Summary: Interesting and accessible
Comment: I bought this book several years to help me prepare for the State Department's Foreign Service written exam. I was pretty confident in my knowledge of foreign affairs and European history, but less so about the events that had occurred right here in my own backyard for the past 200+ years. Well, it really helped! I particularly remember questions on the exam about the Monroe Doctrine, the Missouri Compromise, and Marbury v. Madison that I could not have answered had I not read this book. I passed the exam, which is one of the most draining tests I have ever taken. It's like a super-SAT for adults.
Recently, I picked up this book again and thumbed through it. My one criticism is Davis's "anti-Manifest Destiny" rhetoric, which is true, I suppose, of most modern historians, with the exception, perhaps, of the incomparable Stephen E. Ambrose. General George A. Custer described as "probably deranged" is pure revisionism! Straight out of "Little Big Man," the 1968 movie with Dustin Hoffman. Anyhow, that's my one beef in an otherwise fun and engaging read.
Rating: 3
Summary: Good overview, but biased and editorial
Comment: Davis writes a good overview of American history, summarizing some of the key and decisive events of the past. While no substitute for a text book, Davis makes interesting subject areas which have put generations of high school history students to sleep. As augmentation to a prescribed course of study, or as a refresher for a HS/college graduate, this book is worth reading.
A word of caution. This is not a 'bare facts' history. Davis' writing style is heavily laced with very liberal editorialism. Davis also tends to insert his own opinions as fact. Overall he seems to view American history through liberal hindsight, rarely hesitating to impose his own value judgements on historical events and decisions made by political, military and business leaders.
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Title: Don't Know Much About Geography : Everything You Need to Know About the World but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis ISBN: 0380713799 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 07 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Don't Know Much About the Bible: Everything You Need to Know About the Good Book but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis ISBN: 0380728397 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 04 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Don't Know Much About the Civil War : Everything You Need to Know About America's Greatest Conflict but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis ISBN: 0380719088 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 07 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Don't Know Much About American History by Kenneth C. Davis, Matt Faulkner ISBN: 0064408361 Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Don't Know Much About the Presidents by Kenneth C. Davis, Pedro Martin ISBN: 0060286156 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 01 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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