Books in Don't Know Much About series

In his wildly entertaining, winningly irreverent, New York Times bestselling Don't Know Much About® series, author Kenneth C. Davis has amused and edified us with fascinating facts about history, mythology, the Bible, the universe, geography, and the Civil War.Now, the sky's the limit in his latest irresistible installment—a grand tour of knowledge that carries us from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Berlin Wall, from the Salem Witch Trials to Watergate, from Michelangelo to Houdini. Brimming with busted myths, gripping true stories, and peculiar particulars about a plethora of people, places, and events, this captivating compendium is guaranteed to delight information lovers everywhere as it feeds our insatiable appetite to know everything!

Was Columbus the first European in the Americas?Who was left standing at Custer's Last Stand? Were the Little Rock Nine a rock-and-roll band? It's true that in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But he didn't discover the New World. In fact, the new world we now call America wasn't very new at all. People had been coming to this land for thousands of years. And they haven't stopped yet.But most of us never learned the real story of America's past. And that's a shame. As best-selling author Kenneth C. Davis knows, history can be fun, fascinating, and memorable. When his don't know much about® history was published in 1990, it was a sensation. The book delivered a fresh new take on history with its wit, humor, and great stories. Davis now does for young people what his earlier book did for adults. In his trademark question-and-answer style peppered with fun facts and humorous illustrations, Davis proves that history is never boring. He introduces our ancestors who settled the East and expanded the West, as well as those who had been living here all along. Davis brings the drama and excitement of America's past and present vividly to life.

“Fun, engrossing, and significant. . . . History in Davis’s hands is loud, coarse, painful, funny, irreverent—and memorable.”—San Francisco ChronicleHere, 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. 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 9/11 and 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.

The latest installment in the New York Times bestselling Don't Know Much About® series -- a magical journey into the timeless world of mythologyIt has been fifteen years since Kenneth C. Davis first dazzled audiences with his instant classic Don't Know Much About® History, vividly bringing the past to life and proving that Americans don't hate history, they just hate the dull, textbook version they were fed in school. With humor, wit, and a knack for storytelling, Davis has been bringing readers of all ages up to speed on history, geography, and science ever since. Now, in the classic traditions of Edith Hamilton and Joseph Campbell, he turns his talents to the world of myth.Where do we come from? Why do stars shine and the seasons change? What is evil? Since the beginning of time, people have answered such questions by crafting imaginative stories that have served as religion, science, philosophy, and popular literature. In his irreverent and popular question-and-answer style, Davis introduces and explains the great myths of the world, as well as the works of literature that have made them famous. In a single volume, he tackles Mesopotamia's Gilgamesh, the first hero in world mythology; Achilles and the Trojan War; Stonehenge and the Druids; Thor, the Nordic god of thunder; Chinese oracle bones; the use of peyote in ancient Native American rites; and the dramatic life and times of the man who would be Buddha.Ever familiar and instructive, Davis shows why the ancient tales of gods and heroes -- from Mount Olympus to Machu Picchu, from ancient Rome to the icy land of the Norse -- continue to speak to us today, in our movies, art, language, and music. For mythology novices and buffs alike, and for anyone who loves a good story, Don't Know Much About® Mythology is a lively and insightful look into the greatest stories ever told.

What is an Egyptian pyramid doing on the U. S. dollar bill? Did a pharaoh inspire Moses to worship one God? What’s a Canaanite demoness doing at a rock concert? Since the beginning of time, people have been insatiably curious. They’ve asked questions about where we come from, why the stars shine and the seasons change, and what constitutes evil. The imaginative answers crafted by our ancestors have served as religion, science, philosophy, and popular literature. In this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling Don’t Know Much About® series, Kenneth C. Davis introduces and explains the great myths of the world using his engaging and delightfully irreverent question-and-answer style. He tackles the epic of Gilgamesh; Achilles and the Trojan War; Stonehenge and the Druids; Odin, Thor, and the entire Norse pantheon; Native American myths, and much more, including the dramatic life and times of the man who would be Buddha. From Mount Olympus to Machu Picchu, here is an insightful, lively look at the greatest stories ever told.

“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.

Don't Know Much About Anything: Everything You Need to Know But Never Learned About Famous People, Exceptional Places, Historical Happenings, Holidays and Traditions, Everyday Objects, Remarkable Inventions, Space, Sports, Food, Entertainment and More! is a compendium of around 275 columns, sorted into the subject categories listed in the subtitle. Quizzes on the atomic bomb, hamburgers, football, and The Wizard of Oz are included, along with the Emancipation Proclamation, cold weather, and Mother Theresa, to name a few.Like all of Ken Davis' Don't Know Much About audiobooks, Don't Know Much About Anything will educate and inform listeners while allowing them to have fun.

Millions of Americans, bored by dull textbooks, are in the dark about the most significant event in our history. Now New York Times bestselling author Kenneth C. Davis comes to the rescue, deftly sorting out the players, the politics, and the key events—Emancipation and Reconstruction, Shiloh and Gettysburg, Generals Grant and Lee, Harriet Beecher Stowe—and much more.Drawing on moving eyewitness accounts, Davis includes a wealth of “hidden history” about the roles played by women and African Americans before and during the war, along with lesser-known facts that will enthrall even learned Civil War buffs. Vivid, informative, and hugely entertaining, Don’t Know Much About the Civil War is the only audiobook you’ll ever need on “the war that never ended.”

For years, Kenneth C. Davis has enlightened and enthralled us, opening our minds and tickling our fancies with his wonderfully irreverent, fun, and factual Don't Know Much About® books. He has carried readers on wild and edifying rides through history, mythology, geography, the Bible, the Civil War, even across the universe. Now, following on the heels of his triumphant New York Times bestseller Don't Know Much About® Anything, comes Don't Know Much About® Anything Else, his latest one-stop potpourri of intriguing information. Chock-full of delightful historical snippets and fascinating people, remarkable milestones and boneheaded blunders, and eye-opening, brain-boggling facts about simply anything and everything in the world, here is the ideal companion for those long car rides, plane flights, quality family hours, or relaxing downtime.

How did some plant-eating dinosaurs "chew" with their stomachs? Which dinosaurs were the best musicians? How did T. rex attack its prey? Dinosaurs were some of the most fascinating animals that ever lived on our planet. Some were huge, and some were tiny; some ate leaves, and some loved to chomp on other dinosaurs! In Don't Know Much About Dinosaurs, you'll discover dinosaurs that had a thousand teeth, dinosaurs that could run forty miles per hour, and dinosaurs that ate an entire school-bus-sized pile of vegetables in a single day! And you'll learn how paleontologists discovered the most famous dinosaur of all -- the ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex. Kenneth C. Davis brings the great reptiles of the past back to life with his trademark question-and-answer format. Full of cool quotes, fun facts, and detailed artwork by Pedro Martin, the latest addition to the Don't Know Much About® series brings out the paleontologist in everyone.

From Homer to Harry Potter, from Chaucer to Charlotte's Web, acompelling book of quizzes on history's most influential literary worksand writersDid a whale named "Mocha Dick" inspire Melville's masterpiece?Who was the first poet to speak at a presidential inauguration?Which French-speaking high school football star shook up the literary world?Do you freeze when someone mentions Faulkner? When the conversation turns to the Odyssey, do you want to take a hike? Have no fear. For years, Kenneth C. Davis's New York Times bestselling Don't Know Much About® books have enlightened and enthralled us with a winning blend of fascinating facts and wonderfully irreverent fun. Now he sets his sights on our literary IQ in Don't Know Much About® Literature. With this rich treasure trove of knowledge and intriguing information about the world's great books and authors, Kenneth Davis and his daughter, Jenny, demystify Dracula, capture Kafka, and help you brush up on your Brontë in the inimitable and endlessly entertaining Don't Know Much About® style.