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| America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation | 
 enlarge | Author: Kenneth C. Davis
Publisher: Collins
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $13.39
You Save: $13.56 (50%)
New (49) Used (21) Collectible (3) from $12.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 5480
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.7 x 1
ISBN: 0061118184
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.3
EAN: 9780061118180
ASIN: 0061118184
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW BOOK NEVER READ!!!!!!
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Product Description
Kenneth C. Davis, author of the phenomenal New York Times bestseller Don't Know Much About History, presents a collection of extraordinary stories, each detailing an overlooked episode that shaped the nation's destiny and character. Davis's dramatic narratives set the record straight, busting myths and bringing to light little-known but fascinating facts from a time when the nation's fate hung in the balance. Spanning a period from the Spanish arrival in America to George Washington's inauguration in 1789, America's Hidden History details these episodes, among others: - The story of the first real Pilgrims in America, who were wine-making French Huguenots, not dour English Separatists
- The coming-of-age story of Queen Isabella, who suggested that Columbus pack the moving mess hall of pigs that may have spread disease to many Native Americans
- The long, bloody relationship between the Pilgrims and Indians that runs counter to the idyllic scene of the Thanksgiving feast
- The little-known story of George Washington as a headstrong young soldier who committed a war crime, signed a confession, and started a war!
Full of color, intrigue, and human interest, America's Hidden History is an iconoclastic look at America's past, connecting some of the dots between history and today's headlines, proving why Davis is truly America's Teacher.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Disappointing May 22, 2008
36 out of 44 found this review helpful
Having read several of the author's previous "Don't Know Much About..." books, I looked forward to his newest product with anticipation.
Alas, this book does not meet a high standard. It's a strange book, because it focuses only on a small part of America's history (1565-1789) and it does so by telling six stories, none of them interrelated. The result is a book that is disjointed and lacks any kind of structure.
The stories offer some nice tidbits of historical research, but fail to make a compelling point. The chapter on Benedict Arnold, for instance, fails to address the fascinating question, Why did he do what he did? Sure, he was disappointed and possibly enraged at not getting the recognition he felt he deserved, and he had an awful pro-British wife, but one wishes to know more... Similarly, the final chapter, on Shays Rebellion, was a wake-up call that forced the Founding Fathers to really work on creating the right kind of Constitution and republic form of government, but how close a call was it? Was our new country (actually a collection of squabbling states) in serious danger of collapsing entirely? The author suggests this was the case, but doesn't support it vigorously. The reader is left hanging, wondering: What's the point?
Generally speaking, good history writing needs to be either extremely thorough, or fast-paced. This book, unfortunately, falls in the deadly middle and is boring.
 A fine work of fiction. May 9, 2008
35 out of 108 found this review helpful
I'm sure anyone reading this review is a history lover like I am, only AMERICA'S HIDDEN HISTORY by Kenneth Davis isn't really a history book. In reality, this should be categorized as historical fiction.
Let me start by saying, the writing is very good and flows nicely if you are interested in a diversion from the usual fare of history books. You know, ones that are accurate. This is sort of a cross between Howard Zinn revisionism of history and Dee Brown omission or history.
If you're into a distorted dissertation about the evils of European man against the ideallic, pastoral lifestyle that pervaded North America and how evil conservatism in general is with regards to mankind, then this book is right up your alley.
 A MUST HAVE for serious American history buffs... May 3, 2008
34 out of 48 found this review helpful
I am an avid student of history, especially that which does not traditionally make it into the text books. Having enjoyed books like:
Ku Klux Klan America's First Terrorists Exposed (Shadow History of the United States)
Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned (Don't Know Much About...)
...I was thrilled to see that Mr. Davis's newest work AMERICA'S HIDDEN HISTORY was available...so I picked it up and read it cover to cover in one sitting!
This book is as informative as it is entertaining, and the insights on our founding father alone makes it well worth the price.
Once again, my highest recommendation for this collection of unique Americana.
Hidden no more May 6, 2008
20 out of 24 found this review helpful
Did you know that before he took up arms against the British and became our first President, George Washington, a young English officer ordered his Virginia militiamen to sneak attack a group of French diplomats during a time when both countries were at peace thus committing a war crime? The cowardly incident resulted in the start of the French and Indian War, but didn't quite make it into my high school history book.
To give away any more surprising stories for this review would surely do a disservice to the author and the reader. But take my word for it, this book is packed with many more interesting historic tales!
Kenneth C. Davis, best-selling Don't Know Much About History and other books in his Don't Know Much... series, does a wonderful job of bringing to light all of the quirky, informative, but always amusing tales of the stoic, and yes, sometimes flawed, figured that shaped our nation's fate.
Stuff They Never Taught Me In School May 31, 2008
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
Untold tales are interesting, but the real value to me was what these tales revealed about the characters in them. Kenneth Davis did a great job of putting their lives and actions in a meaningful context.
Living not far from the Hutchinson River Parkway, I was fascinated by his take on the tale of Anne Hutchinson. I'd heard it before, of course, and knew the basics. What Davis told me, though, was that she had advised some of her male disciples not to join a militia at war with local Indians, making her an organizer of some of America's earliest conscientious objectors. He also pointed out that it was after her trial that the Puritans in Boston banned Roman Catholics, Quakers, and other sects. Her younger sister, who became a Quaker, was whipped for blasphemy. Another of her followers who joined the Quakers, Mary Dyer, was arrested, stripped in public, and lashed. Later, the defiant Dyer returned to Boston, refused to leave and was executed.
Davis gives us equally illuminating tales of George Washington as a headstrong and ambitious young man who committed a war crime, what Paul Revere really did during the Revolution, and how Daniel Shay stood up for his rights only to be crushed like a bug--making American stronger in the process.
America's Hidden History reads as if it were told from the inside, full of first-person accounts and other source material that give us a clear, relatively objective view of what our founding fathers (and mothers) were like.
Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo
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