Don't Know Much About(r) the Civil War: Everything You Need to Know about America's Greatest Conflict But Never Learned

by Kenneth C. Davis

Book Overview

"Highly informative and entertaining...propels the reader light years beyond dull textbooks and Gone with the Wind."
--San Francisco Chronicle

It has been 150 years since the opening salvo of America's War Between the States. New York Times bestselling author Ken Davis tells us everything we never knew about our nation's bloodiest conflict in Don't Know Much About (R) the Civil War--another fascinating and fun installment in his acclaimed...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380719088
• ISBN13: 9780380719082
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 5.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Don't know much about the Civil War

I found the book to be an easy read, using a style of short, detailed accounts of events and people. There are also copies of documents that are refered to in history, such as the lost orders of Gen. Lee which were recovered by a Union soldier. This book is a valuable addition to anyy reenactor or anyone interested in the facts that often get obscued by historians.

Learning about the Civil War

Excellent book giving a thorough background in a sequential format. This proved to open portions of my thought process that had not been explored. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in obtaining information that has been cross referenced by the author.

Easy to use format

For antyone who is not literate about the Civilk war, this book provides the essentials in an easy to follow question and answer format. I am well read on the subject and I feel that Davis does a creditable job of providing good basic information on the conflict. A plus is that he devotes significant coverage to the events leading up to the war, including the famous compromises. The book is not exhaustive but it uis a good baisic text for those who know little about the Civil War.

Excellent

I love American History, especially the events leading up to and resulting in the Civil War, but after about 10 years of being out of school I needed a refresher. This was just what the doctor ordered. The book was presented in an easy to read fashion that kept me wanting to turn the page and see what happened next. In addition to the cold hard facts there are tid-bits of trivia which I enjoyed. The recap of events at the end of each chapter was nice as well. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Davis' Don't Know Much series of books.

An excellent overview of the Civil War

I have been studying and reading about the Civil War for over 40 years, and yet I learned much from reading this book. Usually I shy away from reading overviews of the war as I find them repetitive. Instead I now read the diaries, journals and letters of the active participants. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that the author does an excellent job of explaining the politics and causes of the war without talking down to you with cutsy language as the "... for Dummies" series does. This is the text that should be used in our schools as an introduction to the most significant event in our history. The material is easy to read for the person new to the War and presented in such a manner that most readers probably will want to know more and begin to read other works on the Civil War. I now give this book as a gift to my friends and relatives.