I have to admit, I was a little bit discouraged when I pulled the book Don’t Know Much About History off the shelf at the library. “I have to read this whole thing?” was the first thought that came to my mind. For some reason, I thought that this book was going to be thin, like the other books I have read by Kenneth C. Davis, but this one was more than 600 pages. But since I hate to give up on my goals I decided to check it out and take it home with me.
When I began reading it, the first page of the introduction sparked my interest when I came across the George Washington quote: “Shift that fat ass, Harry. But slowly, or you’ll swamp the damned boat.” I eagerly kept reading because I had the feeling that this book was going to be good.
This book is definitely learning American history like I have never learned it before. I had no idea before I read this book that America would not be what it is today if it were not for tobacco. I had no idea that the girls who made the accusations that started the Salem Witch Trials possibly went crazy because of “mushrooms”. And I had no idea that it is a possibility that America did not need to drop the atomic bombs on Japan.
This book is for sure full of interesting facts, but it does have a weakness because not all of it is that interesting. I remember being bored as I read through the first half of chapter five because I felt that it was just going on about the dishonesty of the people running large businesses during the late 19th century, and I felt as though I was running into typos about every 20 pages. But if there is one thing that I really like about the book, it is the way it avoids sugar coating history and shows that the people in it were real people with their own flaws.
This book has definitely changed the way I look at history and the current world. And I have to admit that after reading about the Bay of Pigs and the Vietnam War in this book I do not think that I will ever be able to trust the American Government the way I used to ever again. But this book shows how important it is for everyone to learn history. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone if they want an interesting way to learn about American history or if they want to brush up on what they learned back in school. However, if they are looking for a book that will “teach them history and stop harping about the past”*, they will have to look elsewhere.
*Quote borrowed from the musical Wicked.
**Picture borrowed from the website http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QKVYR3E4L._SL500_AA240_.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Know-Much-About-History/dp/0553502344&usg=__gR9XekHFjmqvm74lUGxXnmDj8vw=&h=240&w=240&sz=19&hl=en&start=12&um=1&tbnid=r1jKk1t99mfJ0M:&tbnh=110&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddon%2527t%2Bknow%2Bmuch%2Babout%2Bhistory%2Bbook%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
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