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Title: Don't Know Much About History by Dick Estell, Kenneth C. Davis ISBN: 0-553-50234-4 Publisher: Random House Audio Pub. Date: 01 June, 1999 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 10 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.55 (96 reviews)
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: 2
Summary: Undermined By Political Agenda
Comment: Don't Know Much About History has a great gimmick: history is presented in short question/answer format that's easy to read and understand.
It should be noted though that this is history from a far left perspective. The fact that it isn't marketed as such is deceptive. At times, this perspective is just another vantage on history and is worthwhile reading in a popular book. At other times the author's biases get in the way and the history presented is distorted or incorrect. The sections on The Great Depression, McCarthyism, Iran Contra, and the Clinton Scandals are not just colored with a view from the left, they are genuinely misleading.
A more truthful general history can be found in: A History of the American People by Paul Johnson.
Rating: 4
Summary: A good reference book
Comment: When I bought this book I was looking for an easy-to-read introduction to American history. This book was highly recommended to me. The format is interesting; its chapters are separated into time periods and Davis approaches his history as a series of answers to questions like: "What was the Bill of Rights" and "Who was right? The Warren Commission or Oliver Stone?." This format makes this book perfect for readers who have a question about a certain event or person and for trivia buffs (like the person who recommended the book to me in the first place). I read the book front to back and I was sometimes confused about the chronology of events, since this book is not your typical chronological narrative. However, I have to give credit to Davis for including several timelines which I found useful in two respects: (1) it gives a sense of order to all the information he gives; (2) it gives a straightfoward, no-nonsense outline of events without all the extra (and sometimes distracting) details. He also includes interesting quotes from interesting people such as Meriwether Lewis, Malcolm X, and Helen Keller, and recommendations for further reading. Davis adds life and wit to his account of American history, which is highly accessible and straight-forward. I definitely learned a lot from this book!
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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 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 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 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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