Don't Know Much About History, Anniversary Edition: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned

I have to agree with the other reviewers, it really is just for those who "don't know much about history." Adds little to the educational process, and written with typical, populist left-wing slant- Nixon was evil, Reagan was stupid, etc. Skip it.

I am already a lover of history...interesting history, but this book was not as entertaining as I had hoped. The various historical summaries are very short and I was hoping for more little known facts. I only heard 4 or 5 things I didn't already know and they were just quotes from people that I already knew were interesting, like Benjamin Franklin or Abraham Lincoln. I wouldn't recommend it if you have any previous historical knowledge.

Lots of useful and interesting information without being dry or with too much detail.

I rented this book unabridged from my college. Wow, it is so insigtful. I have never learned so much at one time in my life. He refreshes your memory, and adds to it, with so many great facts that you probably didn't know. I listened to the whole 19 cd's and loved every minute of it!

Retitle the book... US History snippets through Blue colored glasses - or better yet let's find little know facts that support all the wrongs in our history give a 2006 Liberal view of the world.

Although I picked this selection by mistake, I found it interesting enough to listen to the entire series. A lots of interesting tid bits about American History that should complement anyone who desires to brush up on history.

I would like to see this in a uab. In the abr format, topics are very short. For example, the first section when the author gets to history, talks for only 3 min on Columbus. He does state in the long first two sections, what this collection is about - "this is the first word on the subject, not the last word." He sums up the event, points out some interesting and usually unknown facts, and pulls apart some myths people think are facts. The sections were interesting, but about the time you get interested (about 3min each), the author moves on to a different subject. There is potential here, and if I had a tape player, I would see if they are any better. Hopefully he is longer on each subject. This is a good source for some interesting info to use as a seed for a report. Find out the info, then do the research from there. Have to get an a just for variety - assuming the teacher doesn't slam you for what they see as errors with the school history books.

Obviously, no single book can provide an exhaustive overview of even a single branch of history. But no subject in this book is given more than a superficial, cursory treatment, which is much more frustrating than it is illuminating or educational. The abridgement seems poorly done as well, leading to off-putting absences of antecedents; the description of the events in the Gulf of Tonkin, for example, has two ships being sent to the gulf to respond to what is only described as "the incident". The description of whatever they were responding to was cut in the abridgement (I assume), but the reference was not. Those complaints aside, anyone who managed merely to stay awake in junior high history classes will already know everything discussed in this book. And the survey-style approach, which covers so many topics in so little time, and so superficially, means this book can add little if anything to such knowledge.

Somewhat disappointing. The author has done his research and the question/answer format is fun and interesting. However, be prepared to hear questions and answers about how the U.S. has been so "bad" throughout its history. The author's "politically correct" bias comes through way too often. Example: "..... the foolish concept of attempting to fight Communism through military action ..... " when talking about one of the Vietnam War's events. By the end of the book I was getting depressed and was aching to hear at least one more Q/A about a positive event in U.S. history.

I didn't realize this book was a question and answer format. It is, therefore, best suited as a book, i.e., written form, reference.

Well, it probably is because I love history and paid attention in all of my history classes, but I just didn't find the book to be that "revolutionary" or as thought provoking as I expected. Mary