Customer Reviews

Don't Know Much About American History

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a concise history of the United States, told from a decidedly liberal point of view. Davis begins his story with the various discoveries of America, informing us of Columbus motivations, Ericksons settlements, and the Native American migrations of 35,000 years ago. He continues with stories of the French and Indian Wars, the founding of the United States, the Civil War, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Twentieth Century events through the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Each chapter begins with a list of questions on a given period of history. Then Davis begins describing what happened during this period, taking up and answering each question in turn. Starting with Teddy Roosevelt, Davis own political persuasion starts to come through more and more clearly. While I myself agree with Davis comments about FDR and Ronald Reagan, I think conservative readers might find some of them a bit objectionable. In general, I found this a very readable concise history of the United States, but its not for everyone.

The book came with the Movie "National Treasure". The movie was...not bad. But I really enjoyed the book. I was foreign born and learned American History among other history classes in high school. I went on to write History study guides for students later on.
This book was excellent in that it is concise and entertaining. Captures my attention all the way through. It is a history book for Dummies and I very much appreciated the simplicity, key elements and the openess of the author.

The purpose of this book is to make history approachable to people who might not know much about history or may not like history, hence the name. This is a very good overview primarily aimed at older children.

It takes a non-confrontational and non-confrontational approach to history, which fits with the generally conservative nature of history in education today. There are no debates. For example, it explains that, while slavery a leading cause of the Civil war, it weakly says that many factors were involved. It says nothing of the clash over the issue of slavery expanion to the western territories and the brutal confrontations leading to war.

By the way, I looked at the picture mentioned in another review. It does appear that the picture may be mislabeled, but it is not certain. The picture is a group of Russians. The Russian man in the middle is wearing a white outfit with several Russian medals, and he is obviously a Russian leader, although he probably is not Stalin. The man to the far right, two men over, appears to be a younger Stalin.

This is maybe the best overview of American history for older children and adults who do not know much about history. Considering the target audience, the book is a success.

This is a good book since it's written for kids - but adults can also learn from it. I refreshed my memory of all the history that I learned and promptly forgot in school.

I'm 40 years old, have a master's degree, and thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's supposed to be for kids but I think anyone would enjoy it who's interested in brushing up on things they forgot or never really learned. Very entertaining!

This is a wonderful way to brush up on history! It is fast and easy to read. This would be a great book for someone who missed history the first time around!

This book is a great concise recap of American history. Despite the age level for the book, I believe this is a great review for those of us who's brains find it hard to retain all those details about our country's history. Good for kids and adults, as well. Thanks, Kenneth Davis.

This appealed greatly to my wife who never studied much of American History. I found it interesting as well, but was less enthusiastic since the material was very familiar to me. Still, it is presented in a unique and captivating format. It is good for both kids and adults.

American history is rife with stories about Washington and a cherry tree, Jefferson and his slave mistress, and more that we all accept as fact. The author does a nice job dispelling these myths and more. I read the book all the way through and stayed entertained...

... until the end of WWII. If the book had a slight leftward slant before that period, it ended with a major slant afterward. The treatment of Bill Clinton is especially biased.

Overall though, I would recommend this book. Any author who can make history entertaining is doing the country a service.

Excellent Book....I really enjoy reading this to my students. It's very interesting and has a lot of humorous facts. Something new learned every day.....We love it! Michelle in Alabama