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Sunday, April 27, 2003
BOOK REVIEW: DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY (REVISED 2003) * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
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Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis was recently revised to include the Clinton scandals, the 2000 election, and the events of September 11, 2001. The book is a fabulous, enjoyable discussion of history that brings it alive and makes it as fun and interesting as any novel. I recommend it highly. My two complaints are these. First, the discussion of the most recent events in the book lack the historical perspective necessary to view them objectively. This is particularly true of the events of September 11. My second complaint is this. Davis claims that the Perot candidacy in 1992 helped Bill Clinton to defeat George Bush, the elder, and may have been responsible for Clinton's victory. This is not my recollection of what happened. The way I remember it, Perot dropped out of the race during the Democratic National Convention. The democrats made a huge appeal to Perot voters during the convention, and gained the lead over Bush at this time, never to lose it again. When Perot re-joined the race, polls showed that he siphoned votes from Clinton, by more than two to one, over Bush, and this was presumably the case during the general election. No doubt, the timing of Perot's dropping out of the race was helpful to the Democrats. But ultimately, the success of his candidacy was more a testament to the strength of anti-Bush sentiment than it was a boon to Clinton. I say this, in such detail, not because I want to make such a fuss about this particular issue. Rather, it is because it makes me wonder, if he might be wrong about this, how many things is Davis wrong about that I don't remember from my lifetime, and for which I'm taking his word? I especially wonder this about things that are still politically charged, such as the Vietnam War and Watergate. But still, it's a really wonderful, great book.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/04/book-review-dont-know-much-about.html
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