Don't Know Much About History : Everything You Need to Know About American History But Never Learned (Don't Know Much About...(Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: Bias mars an otherwise strong effort
Review: "Don't Know Much About History" is as hard a book to recommend as it is hard to truly scorn. Author Kenneth Davis succeeds in offering a single-volume, broad view of American history, covering most major events and eras in simple, accessible language. Yet Davis fails to craft a balanced book, his own political viewpoints and biases too often intruding upon the text. It's unfortunate.

As it purports to do, "Don't Know Much..." runs the gamut of American history, from the earliest explorers to September 11, 2001, and just about every major event in between. Events are summarized and explained in easy to understand language, making this book a great starting point for those just developing a love for history, or those just looking to refresh their memory of lessons learned long ago. Interspersed throughout the tome are timelines on major events (the Civil War, World War II) and quotes from key historical figures. Overall, the presentation is wonderful and will be a boon to those with even a passing interest in history. A well-formatted piece.

Unfortunately, despite his claims otherwise, the author fails to leave his own political viewpoints out of the text. (Certainly the preface in the revised edition, where Davis spends pages telling you why the book is NOT biased, screams of protesting a bit too much). His viewpoint intrudes too often, increasingly so as the book grows closer to modern times.

As far as Davis is concerned - or at least as far as he writes - business in America is a Great Evil, never having done anything that wasn't corrupt, dishonest and brutal to the working man. Not once does he offer a success story about business improving the American way of life through technology or economic means, yet dozens of examples are given about what mean-spirited murderers businessmen are. The transcontinental railroad, for instance, did not link the two coasts and thrust America into the future, it murdered thousands of workers for the petty gain of greedy rich industrialists. An objective writer would have noted that it did both.

Such is Davis' vision for all of American history. America saw no instances of bravery, or sacrifice, or grand vision, or good intentions in Davis' America (even those who fought slavery did so out of greed, not a desire to free slaves, he writes). America saw no inspiration, no can-do spirit, no hands-on building of a new world. Certainly nothing worth being proud of. Only greed, murder, racism, and more greed. Davis harps on these themes repeatedly. It a pattern he repeats throughout the book. There is only one side of the American story Davis presents; that of greed and racism.

Davis' propensity to inject racist motivations into event after event, even when the historical record supports no such motivation, is equally troubling. America's history with racism is disturbing and shameful; that it is well-chronicled here is unquestionably commendable. Yet the author also seems to chronicle racism in almost every action taken by America since its inception, whether or not there is any indication that race played a part in the event. He assigns racist attitudes to some not out of proof, but out of his own assumptions. The message is clear: If it's a white male, it must be racist.

Don't Know Much's take on more recent history is most troubling in its bias. It would be difficult to chronicle here without sparking a political debate, but suffice it to say, Davis has a side of the story he wants to tell, and he tells it. Even if it's only half the story. (The best 'for instance' is that during Reagan's eight years in office, the only thing that ever happened was Iran Contra. Reagan slept through the rest, according to the Davis version of the 80s. While some would agree, it's hardly an objective or balanced view of history).

None of this is to say the book does not have merits. It does. The writing is crisp, fast-paced yet detailed, and informative. The humor is light and welcome. Most eras in America's history are covered, including very good coverage of the pre-Revolution years, a period often overlooked in history books. The pace of the reading is brisk, yet the information rarely stops flowing, a feat few historical writers can manage. Davis also makes an effort to put events in the context of their times, and to contrast events with what came before and after. Putting history in its place helps us understand it better, and here the author does well. It is an engaging book to read.

Bias aside, Don't Know Much About History is easy to recommend to a casual reader just looking for a quick primer on American history - with the caveat that they are getting a skewed view of things. The book will be all but worthless to the student of history - you won't learn anything new here, though you may be entertained. And the book may well be abrasive and irritating to those who want their history with a little more balance. But as a single-volume chronicle of American history that is both complete and well-written, it would be difficult not to recommend this. The bias is there, but for readers willing to look past it, this is a solid selection.

A great idea by Davis, and a fine enough effort that fails only because of too much editorializing, and even then the failure is not so big as to spoil the whole thing.

Rating:
Summary: Bias Disappoints, audio reading is fantastic
Review: (This review refers to the audio edition)

"Don't Know Much About History" is as hard a book to recommend as it is to truly scorn. Author Kenneth Davis succeeds in offering a single-volume of American history covering most major events and eras in simple, accessible language. Yet Davis fails to craft a balanced book, his own political viewpoints and biases too often intruding upon the text. It's unfortunate, because his victory in putting together such a book is noteworthy.

The audio reading here is extraordinary. The tone is lively and engaging, and the use of several narrators (changing places for chapter titles and famous quotes) brings a welcome change of pace to what could be a monotonous 20-plus hours. The production is very good, the sound crisp, and chapter titles are read aloud. (I hate audio books that skip chapter titles).

As it purports to do, "Don't Know Much..." runs the gamut of American history, from the earliest explorers to September 11, 2001, and just about every major event in between. Events are summarized and explained in easy to understand language, making a great starting point for those developing a love for history, or readers looking to refresh their memory of history lessons learned long ago. Throughout are timelines on major events (the Civil War, World War II, etc.) and quotes from key historical figures. Overall, the presentation is wonderful and will be a boon to those with even a passing interest in history. A well-formatted piece.

In the audio edition, the timelines come across as awkward. The quotes, however, are wonderful. Two other narrators, a male and female, handle the chores here, serving to break the listener away for a moment and sink into the famous quote. Impersonations are also excellent. These add a lot of flavor to the reading.

Unfortunately, despite his claims otherwise, the author fails to leave his political viewpoints out of the picture. (Right from the start, Davis spends ten minutes telling you why his book is NOT biased. That screams of protesting a bit too much). His viewpoint intrudes too often, and after a while it becomes an unwelcome distraction.

As far as Davis is concerned, business in America is a Great Evil, never having done anything that wasn't corrupt, dishonest and brutal. Not once does he offer a story about business improving the American way of life, yet dozens of examples are given about what mean-spirited murderers businessmen are. If it entails business, it is Bad. Always.

Corrupt seems to be Davis' view of all of American history. No bravery, sacrifice, grand vision, or good intentions in Davis' America (even those who fought slavery did so out of greed, not a desire to free slaves, according to the author). No inspiration, can-do spirit, hands-on building of a new world. Nothing worth being proud of. Only greed, murder, racism, and more greed. An objective writer would have noted that America was built on both the good and the bad.

Davis' propensity to inject racist motivations into event after event is equally troubling. America's history with racism is indeed disturbing and shameful; that it is well-chronicled here is unquestionably commendable. Yet the author also seems to inject racism in almost everything, whether or not there is any indication that race played a part in the historical event.

None of this is to say the book does not have merits. It does. The writing is crisp, fast-paced, detailed, and informative. The light humor is welcome. Almost every major era in American history is covered. Davis also makes an effort to put events in the context of their times, helping us better understand what key events meant in the long term. It is an engaging look at history.

Don't Know Much About History is easy to recommend to a casual reader looking for a quick primer on American history - with the caveat that they are getting a skewed view of things. The book will be all but worthless to a history buff - you won't learn anything new here. The book may well be abrasive and irritating to those who want their history with a little more balance, but as a single-volume chronicle of American history that is both complete and well-written, it would be difficult not to recommend this. The bias is there, sure, but for those willing to look past it, this is a solid selection. And for the price, the unabridged audio edition is a fantastic bang for the buck.

Rating:
Summary: Good overview, but biased and editorial
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Contrast Needed
Review: Kenneth Davis' book about American history needs to be compared and contrasted with other recent American history books such as James Loewen's _Lies Across America_. Davis writes another US history including things which he considers everything you need to know, historical shortcomings. "Truth isn't cosmetically perfect, " he writes. Quite often history is skewed by myths and misconceptions.

Davis writes along the traditional line of history from America's "'discovery' by Europe" to the Bill Clinton administration. His intention is to write a narrative that could be read from beginning to end and debunk myths and misconceptions along the way. In that regard he has done a good job. However Davis has a far gentler attitude than Loewen.

Rating:
Summary: Slightly on the "Left", but a good source
Review: Upon picking up Kenneth C. Davis' book "Don't Know Much About History : Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned", I expected exactly what this informative book claims: History made Fun! And while it did certainly live up to it's billing, the author especially towards the latter turns slightly Left in his writing.

In a delightful question/answer style a reader can rip thru this book picking up the basics and less known facts about our great land. As a book it is easy to read and is a valueable reference source. Davis does a great job on events leading up to the Civil War. Really this book is at it's best between the "major" conflicts and events.

As the book winds down (1970-present), we unfortunately see a slight lean towards left wing ideology. While this book is certainly a strong suggestion to other readers...the politics in the end must be addressed.

All in all, a good buy. Strongly recommended!