Kenneth C. Davis

Born in Mount Vernon, New York City, Kenneth attended Concordia College, Bronxville in New York, and Fordham University at Lincoln Center, New York. He lives in New York City and Dorset, Vermont 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 books, although some publishers, such as Walter Zacharius and Irwin Stein's Lancer Books, were given little coverage.

Davis has lectured at the Smithsonian Museum and the American Museum of Natural History, and been a contributor to The New York Times, Newsday and other publications.

Published by Crown in 1990, Davis's second book, Don't Know Much About History, spent 35 consecutive weeks on The New York Times 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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r3n0n4HblGoC&q=%22don%27t+know+much+about+history%22|title=Don't Know Much About History|isbn=9780061793523|last1=Davis|first1=Kenneth C.|date=13 October 2009|publisher=Harper Collins }}

The titles were initially inspired by Sam Cooke'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[ing] his subject matter as a vehicle for his own editorials".{{cite web|url=http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0060083824.asp|title=Don't Know Much About History|work=bookreporter.com}}

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.

• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10162693 Two-Bit Culture: The Paperbacking of America] https://search.worldcat.org/title/10162693 (Macmillan, 1984)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20561428 Don't Know Much About History] https://search.worldcat.org/title/775503109 (1990) (2003 expanded)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26096973 Don't Know Much About Geography] (1992)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38853915 Don't Know Much About the Bible] (1999)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33948054 Don't Know Much About the Civil War] (1999)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45757454 Don't Know Much About Space] (2001)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/222881547 Don't Know Much About the Planet Earth] (2001)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57345497 Don't Know Much About the Presidents] (2001)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44268037 Don't Know Much About the Kings and Queens of England] (2002)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46812091 Don't Know Much About the Universe] (2002)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43656940 Don't Know Much About the Pilgrims] (2002)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49031786 Don't Know Much About Sitting Bull] (2002)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872159 Don't Know Much About the Pioneers] (2003)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50852008 Don't Know Much About American History] (2003)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49683594 Don't Know Much About George Washington] (2003)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/144514995 Don't Know Much About the 50 States] (2004)
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/176882950 Don't Know Much About the Solar System] (2004)
• [https://search.worldcat.org/title/47625327 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) {{ISBN|0060288191}}
• Don't Know Much About Mythology (2005) {{ISBN|006019460X}}
• Don't Know Much About Anything (2007) {{ISBN|9780061251467}}
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/226065042 America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation] (2008) {{ISBN|9780061118180}}
• [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/456179729 A Nation Rising: Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten Fighters from America's Hidden History] (2010) {{ISBN|9780061118203}}
• The Hidden History of America at War: Untold Tales from Yorktown to Fallujah (May 2015){{cite web|url=http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/kenneth-c-davis-hidden-history-america-war/|title=Kenneth C. Davis, The Hidden History of America at War - Pritzker Military Museum & Library - Chicago|work=pritzkermilitary.org}}{{Cite book|title=The Hidden History of America at War: Untold Tales from Yorktown to Fallujah (Don't Know Much About): Kenneth C. Davis: 9781401324100: Amazon.com: Books}} {{ISBN|9781401324100}}
• In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives (2016) {{ISBN|1627793119}}
• More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War (2018) {{ISBN|1250145120}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.dontknowmuch.com/ Don't Know Much official site]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120321233643/http://www.learningfirst.org/dont-know-much-about-history-interview-author-kenneth-davis Learning First Alliance interview with Kenneth Davis]
• {{C-SPAN|20288}}
• [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/308705-1 In Depth interview with Davis, November 4, 2012]

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Category:21st-century American historians

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:Historians of the United States

Category:Fordham University alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

Category:Concordia College (New York) alumni

Category:Writers from Mount Vernon, New York

Category:Historians from New York (state)

Category:21st-century American male writers