Don't Know Much About History

Rating:
Summary: Interesting yet slanted view
Review: I read about 40 of the most recent reviews and I was glad to see that I wasn't in the minority for a change. This book is interesting and an easy read but the author clearly slants to the left, just keep that in mind and you'll be fine! I like the format but like others have mentioned, the more recent history is better off skipped because the author's agenda is all too clear. Mr. Davis was on the O'Reilly factor a few weeks ago, seems like a really nice man, just blatantly left although he swears he's centered...don't they all, lol.

Rating:
Summary: Biased, but lots of info
Review: The only reason why I do not give 1 point to this book is that there is a lot of value of information in it indeed. But when the author discusses most controvercial aspects of the American history, his leftist bias shines. I just wonder why people like him consider the most shining periods of American growth and strengthening as the most shameful ones, why he and others repeat obvious lies (like, robber barons inflated prices; America was saved by new deal, or there was no commies in the 1950s to hunt for). On the other hand, I found a lot of entertainment reading the discussion of whether FDR overslept Pearl Harbor intentionally to drag the US into war, and, for a leftist liberal like Davis, goodness, a favorable account of Ronald Reagan, pigs flew! Well, the reader can see I am biased too, somewhat, overall, read this book with some understanding that the author have strong and partisan opinions, and to balance them, I advice you to read this book together with the The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History
by Thomas E. Woods Jr. Compare and think for yourself. OK, after all, I give Davis 3 stars!

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining for its Obvious Bias
Review: In terms of objectivity, this book has little to offer. Bias in the modern sections is easily spotted. Read the sections that describe Ronald Reagan as an incompetent dolt and Bill Clinton as a brilliant but flawed politician. If his bias is so readily apparent in these modern passages, then what kind of bias is probable in sections where a reader is less able to discern his 'slant' on history to suit hisown agenda. Historians should offer up facts and figures and weave from a variety of sources to come up with a solid profile of history. Davis has an ax to grind for the liberal camp. At the end of the book, he refers to Howard Zinn, a hard left historian, who offers a 'necessary corrective' in his books.

If you're looking for history books, keep looking.

Rating:
Summary: My review is not from the "biased" Christian viewpoint!
Review: Unlike the people who have reviewed this & hated it because the book does not promote the careful propaganda campaign that has been shoved down our throat as the "true history", especially since McCarthy in the latter part of the past century, this book sticks to the facts as shown by actual historical documents. I'm so sick of the rewritten garbage that has been passed down for the past few generations and found the book terribly refreshing. As a genealogist/historian who is constantly digging through original records and first-hand information of the past, I'm always astonished at how much I previously learned in school had been stinted from the truth. I'm very grateful to find something that's both accurate and entertaining!

Rating:
Summary: Don't know much history
Review: Interesting book...well written and easy to read. It's a good refresher for those who have not had a history class in a while. This book is a "must read!"

Rating:
Summary: "...that bloody road map of American history"
Review: While Mr. Davis offers readers an engaging top-line recap of American history, his decidedly liberal bias reveals itself as the 20th century unfolds. One only needs to skim the Afterword from pages 589 to 593 to see his single paragraph recaps of our country's internal growing pains and struggles end again and again with "American Terror", including the WWII ending Hiroshima bombing.
I do not recall a single positive word he has to say about American business, dismisses at least ½ of our Presidents as incompetent in single sentences, and when considered as a whole really makes all of us out as greedy, racist ethnic cleansers.
There is no doubt that our proud country has had many dark periods and bad turns but I like to think we, at the end of the day have done much to correct our ways. There is no hope to be perfect in everybody's eyes.
I didn't know as much as I wanted to know about America's history when I started the book, and after seeing his left leaning spin from the 1940's forward, I wonder how much I now know about the truth of the preceding 348 years.


Rating:
Summary: Conservatives BACK OFF!!
Review: I know that to to the conservative set if something is not totally "super gung ho pro-american propaganda" then it must be total crap, and that the author HAS TO BE some clown who is just making things up to make the right wing look bad... because he's obviously a criminal who has nothing better to do right?

Well this book is very good and sheds a lot of light on otherwise ignored facts. Funny isn't it how the so called "liberal" media helps to sugar coat everything, and when someone finally dares scratch beneath the surface, the conservatives come out for their witch hunts.

Rating:
Summary: What He Knows About History is Wrong
Review: It's not what Mr. Davis DOESN'T know about History that makes this such a dangerous book for it's intended audience, it what he DOES know that just aint so. For example, he "knows" that Karl Marx was really on to something in making class struggle the driving force behind historical change. But that's just not true.

He "knows" that the next most important things you can say about any historical figure are how they measure up to 21st century orthodoxies on questions of race and gender. This tells us something about Davis, but not much about the historical situations that he claims to be talking about.

A quick way to verify these overall assertions is to pick a subject that he deals with that you already know something about and flip to the end of the section where he gives his "must reads." Even when he waffles a bit in the text (or more often hides behind another historian), his bias almost always shows up here.

Rating:
Summary: Tour the sometimes-dark totality of American history
Review: This review concerns the severely abridged audio version, which is about 75% shorter than the paper version. The audio version also lacks the paper version's detailed timelines.

The audio version of "Don't Know Much About History" highlights the history of America from 40,000 BC (with the arrival of Native American forebears) to 1990 at the end of the Reagan era. Author Kenneth Davis does a good job of selecting history's most important turning points (colonization, the Revolution, industrialization, etc.). He is also adept at raising the kind of questions that most of us only half-remember from high school history class such as, "What was the War of 1812 about?" and "Who were the robber barons?" Unfortunately, the "Don't Know Much" audio version doesn't always answer these questions. I was left with the impression, for instance, that the main issue precipitating the War of 1812 was the impressment of sailors into the British Navy and Henry Clay's "thirst for territory." The first issue seems insignificant as a "casus belli"; the second left still more questions -- why was Clay so thirsty, and who did territory belong to? Coverage of some topics can be breezy indeed. The 8-years of the Revolutionary War were covered by the Lexington/Concord battle that started it and The Treaty of Paris that ended it.

On the other hand, Davis avoids the inevitability of certain grade-school histories, which show seem to imply that history had to unfold the way it did. Davis also does a nice job of bringing the human motivations (not just the actions and statements) of historical figures to light. With Davis's exposition, you can begin to share the fear of Southern slave-owners in the face of Northern control of business and manufacturing. You can feel the tug of manifest destiny that drove settlers to take land from other peoples. Davis does not shy away from the dirty side of history. Robber barons, biased Supreme Courts, greedy settlers, circulation-hungry warmongering newspaper publishers and others are held up to (brief) scrutiny. I suppose that many who claim "Don't Know Much" is biased are mostly troubled by spotlighting the villainies of the rich and powerful rather than the glories of American military and economic victories. Davis's unvarnished approach would be uncomfortable to who are accustomed to deifying great historical figures. Yet though "Don't Know Much" sometimes spends too much time on the dark side of history, I appreciated its lack of romance and its even-handedness. Better to learn to live with the truth than to unlearn fantasy.

"Don't Know Much," the audio book, provides a quick overview of the broad terrain of American history--fit especially for those without the patience or interest to read the unabridged paper version. While that may seen like damning with faint praise, "Don't Know Much" is fun and valuable. I'm glad I listened to it and would consider reading it in its entirety.