Kenneth C. Davis is an American history writer, best known for his ''Don't Know Much About'' series.
Life
Born in
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, he attended
Concordia College, Bronxville
Concordia College (CCNY) was a four-year liberal arts college in Bronxville, New York. Concordia College was sponsored by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and was a member of the Concordia University System. It was chartered by the ...
in New York, and
Fordham University
Fordham University () is a private Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its original campus is located, Fordham is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit un ...
at
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
though has never graduated from there. He lives in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Dorset, Vermont
Dorset is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,133 at the 2020 census. Dorset is famous for being the location of Cephas Kent's Inn, where four meetings of the Convention that signed the Dorset Accords led t ...
accompanied by his wife and two children.
Davis's first book, ''Two-Bit Culture: The Paperbacking of America,'' offers an overview of the history of
paperback book
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, lea ...
s, although some publishers, such as Walter Zacharius and Irwin Stein's
Lancer Books
Lancer Books was a publisher of paperback books founded by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius that operated from 1961 through 1973. While it published stories of a number of genres, it was noted most for its science fiction and fantasy, particularl ...
, were given little coverage.
Davis has lectured at the
Smithsonian Museum
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
and the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 int ...
, and been a contributor to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
Newsday
''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and fo ...
'' and other publications.
''Don't Know Much About History''
Published by Crown in 1990, Davis's second book, ''Don't Know Much About History,'' spent 35 consecutive weeks on ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' bestseller list and sold nearly 1.5 million copies. This unexpected success launched the ''Don't Know Much About...'' series. The standardized format is a chronological coverage of a subject with each chapter divided into boldface subheads of questions, such as, "Did Pocahontas really save John Smith's life?" Davis then answers the questions with basic facts delivered in short easy-to-read essays which have a straightforward approach, but sometimes grab the reader's attention by beginning with light humor and anachronistic comparisons. For example: "Even the astronauts who flew to the moon had a pretty good idea of what to expect; Columbus was sailing, as ''Star Trek'' puts it, 'where no man has gone before'." Quotes from historical figures often follow the essays.
The titles were initially inspired by
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is common ...
's song "
Wonderful World", with the lyrics, "Don't know much about history" or "geography," etc. The series has generally received favorable reviews. One mixed review criticized Davis for "treat
nghis subject matter as a vehicle for his own editorials".
''America's Hidden History''
Davis's book, ''America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation'' (2008), has a more serious tone than the earlier books, is more expansive, and focuses not only on well-known names but also on forgotten figures such as
Hannah Duston
Hannah Duston (also spelled Dustin, Dustan, or Durstan) (born Hannah Emerson, December 23, 1657 – March 6, 1736, .
Books (external links)
*
Two-Bit Culture: The Paperbacking of America' (Macmillan, 1984)
*
Don't Know Much About History' (1990) (2003 expanded) )
*
Don't Know Much About Geography' (1992)
*
Don't Know Much About the Bible' (1999)
*
Don't Know Much About the Civil War' (1999)
*
Don't Know Much About Space' (2001)
*
Don't Know Much About the Planet Earth' (2001)
*
Don't Know Much About the Presidents' (2001)
*
Don't Know Much About the Kings and Queens of England' (2002)
*
Don't Know Much About the Universe' (2002)
*
Don't Know Much About the Pilgrims' (2002)
*
Don't Know Much About Sitting Bull' (2002)
*
Don't Know Much About the Pioneers' (2003)
*
Don't Know Much About American History' (2003)
*
Don't Know Much About George Washington' (2003)
*
Don't Know Much About the 50 States' (2004)
*
Don't Know Much About the Solar System' (2004)
* ''Don't Know Much About Dinosaurs'' (2004)
* ''Don't Know Much About Thomas Jefferson'' (2005)
* ''Don't Know Much About Abraham Lincoln'' (2005)
* ''Don't Know Much About World Myths'' (2005)
* ''Don't Know Much About Mummies'' (2005)
* ''Que Se Yo De Historia'' (2005)
* ''Don't Know Much About Martin Luther King Jr.'' (2002)
* ''Don't Know Much About Rosa Parks'' (2005)
* ''Don't Know Much About Mythology'' (2005)
* ''Don't Know Much About Anything'' (2007)
''America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation' (2008)
''A Nation Rising: Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten Fighters from America's Hidden History''(2010)
* ''The Hidden History of America at War: Untold Tales from Yorktown to Fallujah'' (May 2015)
* ''In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives'' (2016)
* ''More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War'' (2018)
References
External links
Don't Know Much official siteLearning First Alliance interview with Kenneth Davis*
*
''In Depth'' interview with Davis, November 4, 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Kenneth C.
21st-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
Historians of the United States
Fordham University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Concordia College (New York) alumni
Writers from Mount Vernon, New York
Historians from New York (state)
21st-century American male writers