Don't Know Much about American History

Don't Know Much About

by Kenneth C. Davis, Oliver Wyman (Narrator)

Was Columbus the first European in the Americas?
What sport became more popular after the Civil War?
Were the Little Rock Nine a rock-and-roll band?

As bestselling author Kenneth C. Davis knows, history can be fun, fascinating, and memorable. When his Don't Know Much About(R) History was published in 1990, it was a sensation. The book delivered a fresh take on history with its wit and unusual detail. Davis now does for young people what his earlier book did for adults. In his trademark question-and-answer style--peppered with surprising facts, and historic reproductions--Davis introduces our ancestors who settled the East and expanded the West, as well as those who had been living here all along. His sure touch brings the drama and excitement of the American story vividly to life.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Reference, Audiobook, Historical, School

Audio CD

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Kenneth C. Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of the Don't Know Much About® series of books and audios for adults and children. Don't Know Much About® History, the first title in the series, became a New York Times bestseller in 1991 and remained on the paperback list for 35 consecutive weeks. It has since been revised several times and now has more than 1.6 million copies in print. The 30th anniversary edition of the book was published with a new preface, "From an Era of Broken Trust to an Era of Broken Democracy."

Davis is, according to Publishers Weekly, "a go-to guy for historical insight and analysis."

AMERICA'S HIDDEN HISTORY also became a New York Times bestseller. A NATION RISING also uses dramatic narratives to tell the "stories your textbooks left out." His book, THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF AMERICA AT WAR (May 5, 2015) was called "searing" analysis by Publishers Weekly.

Kenneth C. Davis’s success aptly makes the case that Americans don’t hate history, just the dull version they slept through in class. Davis’s approach is to refresh us on the subjects we should have learned in school. He does it by busting myths, setting the record straight, and always remembering that fun is not a four-word letter word.

His IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SLAVERY, FOUR PRESIDENTS, AND FIVE BLACK LIVES looks at the lives of five people enslaved by four of America's most famous Presidents and the role of slavery in American history and the presidency. In May 2018, MORE DEADLY THAN WAR: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War was published.

STRONGMAN: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy was published by Holt. It was named among the best books of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews and the Washington Post.

In November 2022 GREAT SHORT BOOKS: A Year of Reading--Briefly was published by SCribner. A compendium of 58 great short works Davis read during the pandemic lock down, it is a joyous celebration of reading.

Coming in October 2024 is THE WORLD IN BOOKS: 52 WORKS OF GREAT SHORT NONFICTION. It is an accessible and comprehensive guide to some of the most influential and important works of nonfiction, from the earliest days of writing to contemporary times. Each entry includes information about the writers behind these consequential books and the time in which they lived.

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick fun overview of American History that is great for the newbie and the historian brushing up.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick reading lesson on American History. A fun and interesting read.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful written book! I really enjoyed listening to it and if you seek a well rounded view of American History, from multiple perspectives, this book is for you! I’d also say that this book is written plainly enough to be a good history book for children and is even geared for children. It is a very fun read!
I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of detail it went into the beginning parts of our great country’s history! However it’s only draw back is that when you reach the 20th Century it begins to favor Democrats more positively then their history would really suggest; and Republicans rather unfavorably then their history would suggest. It unfortunately has quite the shift in care taken to bring multiple perspectives into the 1900s portion of the book. It’s all to eager to point out what it seems as “good” that the Democratic have done, while all too eager to point out the flaws of the Republicans. Instead of the good and flaws of both - as it seemed to do quite well with the history before the 20th Century. Strange and disappointing.
But still four stars overall. Because no one book will give you the full perspective, but this book is a good starting book for children or for those seeking a good place to start in the growing knowledge of history!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed most of this book. He hit the great and low points of America. His strong liberal leanings manifested itself towards the end, starting with the 1960s to present, so take it with a grain of salt. But I really liked the synopsis of all major historical events in America.

[George Crowder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewing the panorama of American history in a test prep class I teach, an adult student whined, "Why does everything have to be so complicated?" Well...it just IS. This book is an excellent place to begin laying a framework for understanding something about the United States and how it got this way. I find the author's philosophical asides refreshing and informative, though some with a conservative bias take offense to them. Two I particularly appreciate and return to again and again:

"History teaches us that our actions have consequences." What better lesson could young people--or those of any age--learn? If only our politicians believed such a thing...

"Americans have an affinity for simple solutions to complex problems." The presidential election of 2016 offered many examples to illustrate this simple, daming statement. Immigration problem? Build a wall on your southern border. Then beat your head against it.

[Cammie Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book. Basically very short descriptions about events in our American history. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is I thought the last quarter of the book dealt too much with "social issues" - although I thought the author was relatively "fair" about those issues. I felt he dealt too much with the negative events that happened & not some of the really great things that have happened in our more recent US history. I realize we have to look at our mistakes so we can learn from them... but we also have to be honest about how wonderful most Americans really are & let people aspire to be better.

[George]

Young London newspaper editor Frank Spargo happens upon a murder scene in the early morning hours walking home from his night shift newspaper job. He becomes involved both as a journalist and detective trying to solve the murder mystery. Working with the Scotland Yard investigator as they are starting from scratch as the victim initially is unidentified and the investigators will have to go back 20 years in order to learn the motive and who is responsible.

[Pat Trattles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should supplement the history curriculum of classrooms everywhere. It’s question and answer format provides a jumping off point for lively classroom discussion in an engaging way. Instead of rewriting history, it presents both the good and bad, not sugar coating the good and not shying away from the bad. Yes there have been plenty of mistakes in our history, but if we don’t learn from those mistakes we are destined to repeat them ad nauseum. Highly recommended middle grade read.

[Michael Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another book that's a snore for a history teacher. This would be great for someone interested in American History that doesn't have much knowledge about it. Pretty basic primer but done in such a way to be interesting. Short sections with interesting commentary make it a quick read. Once again, good book for a high school classroom, not so fun for a social studies teacher to read.

[Vanessa Pugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this books by mistake thinking it wasn’t a children’s book. Read it anyways and loved it! As a super quick recap of American History highs and lows I thought it was great! I know I learned all this back in school but didn’t pay much attention. It was wonderful to read it quickly and refresh!

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m honestly terrible at remembering history, particularly dates, so I wanted a refresh and thought this would do the job. It’s definitely a brief overview of the history of the country overall and geared towards kids based on the format. I didn’t find it particularly great, but then again I have yet to read many non fiction history books that I find really well written and engaging.

[Margret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a few of Kenneth C. Davis book. This book is another wonderful book adding to my collection. I have learned lots of great facts about my country. It's interesting and informative. My grandkids already fascinating about the history an d they loved it, too. I recommend it.

[Dee Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed all of the facts in this book. I enjoy American History, and I made some notes for my personal use.

A lot of information was covered in this book in a clear, and concise way. It was fun to reminisce reading some of the information pertaining to the 60’s and 70’s.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun easy to read overview of our history.

[TheOdd1sOut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning history that your teacher just doesn't want to teach.

[Lauren Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was fairly interesting. I did learn some things. Would be good for a younger audience to learn about American history.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice quick summation of US History in a question and answer format.

[Laurie Sytsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for middle school or high school students to read.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good informative book on American History. For those who need the basics.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great quick summary of American history. Geared toward a younger audience, maybe middle school or so. Wonderful on audio!

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun American history book in a question and answer format.

[Greygirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

~3 Stars~ Read with my Dad.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being American, and all, I know I'm not very cognizant of my country's past. At least, that's what I thought. While I don't have dates and names memorized, I was surprised at how much of the information in this book I had remembered from those long ago school days.
This was a nice refresher course, though I felt there were areas that were biased or maybe didn't give a full account of situations. I wish I could remember the spots, exactly, which made me feel this way, but I don't.
I wouldn't use this book to teach American history, but I think it's a fine read for those who just can't remember the particulars or want a nice, quick overview of the last couple hundred years of our country's existence.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be good for the 4th - 6th grade age group I would say and it was written for kids, not adults. It doesn't give opinion about issues and it doesn't go into more detail than is needed in my opinion.

I picked it up at a book sale and decided to read it to brush up snce it has been a while since my own American History classes and the big gap between kid #2 and kid #3. I thought it was very well done and though I decided to read only a handful of pages at a time, a quick read. I didn't learn anything new until the end of the book. I knew Sputnik was small, but I had imagined the size of a car. It was just a little bigger than a basketball. Also, the term "debugging" came about from having to clean out bugs (moths mostly) from the first big computer.

[Chantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book at a thrift store dime book sale and read it now because it showed up on someone's wish list on paperbackswap.com. I know I'm weak in history so I thought this would be a nice brush up. It was alright but nothing exceptional. A quick history review from the start of America up to Sep 11th. Written to grade school reading level and comprehension so way oversimplified for adults but still a decent read. I did learn a few things that I hadn't learned or failed to retain. I enjoyed the headings with the playfully misleading questions.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good foundation in U.S. history and I enjoyed reading simplified versions of information that is already rattling around in my brain, though it is certainly not my favorite of the series. My 7-year-old loved it one night then tired of it the next, though she has enjoyed all of the other books in the Don't Know Much series. My 10-year-old read it to herself and it was her constant car companion for days.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely fine for what it is (which is a simplified and somewhat cutesy overview of American history). Nothing in-depth, but you wouldn't expect that. I just picked it off the shelf (I had given it as a gag gift to my History grad student roommate a while back) as something to read a few pages of before going to sleep, and it was a nice way to revisit all the stuff you'd learned in grade school.

[Christin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at a thrift store for 29cents. Thought it would be nice to have in the car while waiting for kids :-) It is written for middle-school age and I found it really fun, easy and I learned some fun things. It has pop-culture history as well as political history. It was really fun to read.

And for all you Wisconsinites, did you know Harry Houdini grew up in Appleton???? See, now you learned something too.

[Cathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a couple of Davis' Don't Know Much About... books years ago and really enjoyed them, so I thought this one would be fun. It certain was. It's written for young readers (perhaps upper elementary or middle school) and is told in Davis' typical question and answer style. It's a great little book--witty, informative, fast-paced, and entertaining. I was reminded of a lot of bits of history that I'd forgotten about, and I even learned a few brand-new things, as well. Not bad!

[Lindsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some new information, but it really talked about US History as if it happened in a vacuum. The worst offense was the lack of information about women. I mean, it talked about Susan B. Anthony for less than a page and was like, yeah, she's was a suffragette. It was very disappointing.

I really wanted to learn about the US after WWII, which is where most of my knowledge is lacking, but it barely talked about the rationale for Vietnam or Korea.