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

“Reading [Kenneth C. Davis] is like returning to the classroom of the best teacher you ever had.” —People

Revised, updated, and expanded, the Twentieth Anniversary Edition of Kenneth C. Davis’s classic anti-textbook Don’t Know Much About History revitalizes the landmark book’s ability to revolutionize the way we look at our past. Like Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, Davis’s Don’t Know Much About History captivates readers with a wry and lucid, comprehensive and comprehensible narrative. With a new section covering the twenty-first century’s most significant events, from the Great Recession to Hurricane Katrina to the election of Barack Obama and more, the Twentieth Anniversary Edition of Don’t Know Much About History reinvigorates the book’s crucial promise of delivering fascinating, insight-driven learning to a new generation of readers.

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Here, celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its debut as a New York Times bestseller, is the revised, updated, and expanded edition of the classic anti-textbook that changed the way we look at history.

First published two decades ago, when the "closing of the American mind" was in the headlines, Don't Know Much About^® History proved Americans don't hate history—just the dull version that was dished out in school. With wit and irreverence, in question-and-answer form, Don't Know Much About^® History took readers on a rollicking ride through more than five hundred years of American history, from Columbus's voyages to recent events. The book became an instant classic and has sold more than 1.6 million copies.

Now Davis has brought his groundbreaking work up to the present, including the history of an "Era of Broken Trust," from the end of the Clinton administration through the recent Great Recession. This additional material covers the horrific events of 9/11and the rise of conspiracy theorists, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the New Orleans levees, the global financial meltdown, the election of Barack Obama, and the national controversy of same-sex marriage.

For history buffs and history-phobes alike, for longtime fans who need a refresher course, and for a new generation of Americans who are still in the dark about America's past, Davis shows once more why People magazine said, "Reading him is like returning to the classroom of the best teacher you ever had."

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“Quirky, sardonic, accurate, rudimentary, and often amusing…. A breezy question-and-answer approach that is far removed from the massive textbooks all of us once lugged around.” - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“If you’ve always wondered exactly what Boss Tweed bossed and what Tammany Hall was, Davis is your man.” - Washington Post Book World

“Unquestionably a handy reference book. It’s just the thing when your pesky school-age kids try to show you up at homework time.” - Dallas News

“Fun, engrossing, and significant…. History in Davis’s hands is loud, coarse, painful, funny, irreverent--and memorable.” - San Francisco Chronicle

Praise for the fully updated and revised edition of Don’t Know Much About History “Davis covers U.S. history with a balanced and contemporary voice, shedding light on many legends, myths, and inaccuracies (e.g., Pocahontas did not save Capt. John Smith’s life; the first President of the United States was John Hanson of Maryland, elected President under the Articles of Confederation). The book makes for fun reading for history buffs.” - Library Journal

“here is considerable merit in this book.... It is replete with interesting tidbits of information that can enrich one’s general historical knowledge and stoke interest in further reading.” - Booklist

— Critical praise for the book that has sold more than 1.3 million copies: “A book that not only fills in gaps in historical knowledge, but is genuinely entertaining…wonderful!” - Orlando Sentinel

“Davis writes with humor, he can turn a fine phrase…. If history were usually taught this way, we wouldn’t have to worry about the closing of the American mind.” - Booklist