Extraordinary Praise for Kenneth C. Davis and His Work


“Reading him is like returning to the classroom of the best teacher you ever had!”
-People magazine

“Kenneth C. Davis may have done more to educate our young people, and the general public, on the topics of history, geography, and science than all of the certified teachers in the country.”
-Orlando Sentinel

Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned

The book that has sold more than 1.3-million copies


“Don’t Know Much About History...puts the zest back in history.”
-Washington Post Book World

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

“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, course, painful, funny, irreverent-and memorable.”
-San Francisco Chronicle

“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

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

Don’t Know Much About Geography: Everything You Need to Know About the World but Never Learned

“Davis pulls the reader west and east across the page with humor and a fresh viewpoint.”
-USA Today

“Makes geography buffs of us all.”
-San Francisco Chronicle

“Playful...fun...His books will go a long way in helping people to answer that simple, important question: ‘Where am I?’”
-Chicago Tribune

“Davis manages to make learning about the world fun...By the time you finish, you will know more about geography than you ever learned in
school.”
-Houston Post

Don’t Know Much About the Universe: Everything You Need to Know About Outer Space but Never Learned

“Beware: You may easily become addicted to Davis’s breezy style and his treasury of odd and fascinating facts.”
-Washington Post

“Covers a huge topic in a lighthearted, conversational question-and-answer format.”
-Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“A handy reference book, with a slew of good information and a host of age-old questions, intelligently arranged and amusingly addressed.”
-St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Don’t Know Much About the Civil War: Everything You Need to Know About America’s Greatest Conflict but Never Learned”

“Highly informative and entertaining...Propels the reader light-years beyond dull textbooks and ‘Gone With the Wind.’”
-San Francisco Chronicle

“Lively and relevant.”
-USA Today

“Distinct, clear, and balanced...Davis has a gift for deftly rendering the essentials.”
-New York Times Book Review

Don’t Know Much About the Bible: Everything You Need to Know About the Good Book but Never Learned

“Do you still postpone reading the Bible cover to cover?  ‘Don’t Know Much About the Bible’ offers a rousing companion volume to get you going. Kenneth Davis will take you on a grand tour
-with commentary.”
-Christian Science Monitor

“A great starting point for Bible beginners.”
-San Francisco Chronicle


“Witty and thoughtful, with plenty of surprising yet credible breaths of fresh air on an old subject. Each chapter of Davis’s book reads like a letter to an intelligent friend. Pick this one up - you won’t be disappointed.”
- Charles Pellegrino, author of Her Name, Titanic and Return to Sodom and Gomorrah

“One of the most lucid, important, and worthwhile books of this or any year. Here is a perfect book for the dawn of the third millennium. Historian and Renaissance man Kenneth Davis is the perfect writer to tackle this lofty and compelling topic, which he does with zest and gusto, style and spirit, heart, humor, and integrity.”
- Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior and Everyday Enlightenment

“Don’t Know Much About® the Bible is like a journey through biblical times with a modern tour guide who is fl uent in history, psychology, religion, sociology, and anthropology! It’s fascinating how Davis gives this ancient text such a rich development. I think his book would be wonderful to read to children.”
- Carol Adrienne, author of The Purpose of Your Life

“Don’t Know Much About® the Bible is a wake-up call for all of us who slept through Sunday school. Like every great teacher, Ken Davis makes learning an adventure. This ain’t mama’s Bible fi lled with begets and begats - it’s colorful, entertaining, and fi lled with incredible facts. Do yourself a favor - read this book.”
- Mary Matalin, author of All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President

Don’t Know Much About® Mythology Everything You Need To Know About The Greatest Stories In Human History But Never Learned

“Ken Davis is the high school teacher we all wish we’d had-- smart, funny, and irreverent. Don’t Know Much About® Mythology is a crystallized reminder of what’s enduring about the past, and why it continues to matter today. It’s a perfect companion to Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code, and the Bible--and the best excuse I know to get deserted on a Greek island. Between Odysseus and Icarus, it might even give you a few clues for how to fi nd your way home--and how not to.”
-Bruce Feiler, author of Walking the Bible

“Because Davis ranges widely and with such sparkling wit through a broad sweep of myths, his survey provides a superb starting point for entering the world of mythology.”
-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An engaging handbook on gods, goddesses, and the civilizations they have inspired. . . . [Davis’s] goal as an author is to infect readers with his own intellectual eagerness, and he succeeds admirably with this idiosyncratic tour of world mythology. . . . Even professors will have to concede that Davis has done his research --his annotated bibliography is excellent--and that he’s a laudably conscientious scholar. An accessible and informed guide to an always-fascinating subject, and an ideal reference for the general reader.”
-Kirkus Reviews

“A massive overview of every myth under the sun. Davis shatters commonly held myths about myths, differentiating them from allegories and legends, and explores the history of such tales in societies and religions around the globe, from Mesopotamia’s Gilgamesh to Genesis’ Noah. You can read here, too, about Native Americans’ use of peyote, a tempestuous Nordic god of thunder, and a debate over the meaning of evil.”
-Daily News

“Who are we? In his thoughtful and entertaining Don’t Know
Much About® Mythology, Kenneth C. Davis suggests that in large part, we are a product of our own creation, our best instincts, and worst prejudices--refl ected in the stories we tell. We have become our myths, Davis suggests, though they are not necessarily true. In the Americas, myths justifi ed slavery and the destruction of native societies. Yet myth can empower, pulling us upward toward greater creativity and humanity. For all who choose to know just who we are, you must read this book.”
-Richard M. Cohen, author of Blindsided: Lifting a Life Above Illness

“Over the long development of human culture, the stories of mythology are like a chronology of human evolution. They tell us who we are, and hint at the answer to the growing spiritual intolerance we see today: at the level of the soul, we all want the same things. In Don’t Know Much About® Mythology, Kenneth C. Davis illuminates these ideas in a popular and entertaining way. I highly recommend this book.”
-James Redfield, author of The Celestine Prophecy

“With his trademark wit and fi ercely entertaining style, Kenneth Davis draws us into mythological worlds, preserving ancient mysteries and enchantments even as he clarifi es, orders, and makes sure we have the stories straight. Don’t Know Much About® Mythology frames questions that arouse curiosity and produces answers that lead to astonishment. Whether you want a crash course on North American native myths or a refresher
course on Gilgamesh, this book will provide a great read and remain a permanent reference manual.”
-Dr. Maria Tatar, Department of Folklore and Mythology, Harvard University, and author of The Annotated Brothers
Grimm

“In each of his Don’t Know Much About® books, Kenneth C. Davis has brought the forgotten child to the front row, reminding those of us who hated school that one size doesn’t fit all in education --that the desire to learn is far better served by the pursuit of individual passion than by classroom conformity. In Don’t Know Much About® Mythology, Davis uses the intense passion that stirred in his own soul as a fi fth-grade boy reading the Odyssey, to take us to a place of magic, imagination, and transcendence. Davis not only presents an entertaining exploration of humanity’s most sacred stories across many civilizations, he brings us face to face with our most distant ancestors who were driven by innate curiosity to explain life’s mysteries. Davis’s
book is a masterpiece. I couldn’t stop turning the pages. “
-Albert Clayton Gaulden, founder and director of the Sedona Intensive and author of Signs and Wonders

“Kenneth C. Davis may have done more to educate our young people, and the general public, on the topics of history, geography, and science than all of the certifi ed teachers in the country.”
-Orlando Sentinel