Don't Know Much About the American Presidents

De: Kenneth C. Davis

Narrado por: Arthur Morey, Kirby Heyborne, Mark Bramhall, Kenneth C. Davis

For more than 20 years since his New York Times best seller Don't Know Much About History first appeared, Davis has shown that Americans don't hate history, just the dull version dished out in school.

Now Davis turns his attention to what is arguably the most important and most fascinating subject in American history: our presidents. From the heated debates over executive powers through the curious election of George Washington in 1789 and, for more than 200 years, up through the meteoric rise of Barack Obama, the presidency has been at the heart of American history. From the low lights to the bright lights, from the intellectuals to the disasters, from the memorable to the forgettable and forgotten, Davis tells all the stories. He uses his entertaining question-and-answer style to chart the history of the presidency itself as well as debunk the myths of America's leaders and recount the real stories of these very real people.

For history buffs and history-phobes alike, this entertaining audiobook is packed with memorable facts that will change your understanding of the highest office in the land and the men who have occupied it.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2012 Kenneth C. Davis (P)2012 Random House Audio

Easy Listen & Very Infomative

Loved this book overall. The narrators were great and I found the way the each presidential story was told gave a clear concise way to absorb with pleasure the facts.

Given that I loved this book overall so much I hate to even say this, but the only thing that threw me off was the quick facts type reading given at the beginning and end of each section. I still gave 5 stars across the board but it did give me pause sometimes who I was listening to for a second since I am listening while doing a many a things & sometimes had to rewind.

Again though, this is an amazing book worth buying and listening to a couple of times in my opinion.

Great Book! Well written,informative, interesting

Where does Don't Know Much About the American Presidents rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 20

What other book might you compare Don't Know Much About the American Presidents to and why?

Truman

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Engaging, easy on the ears and kept it interesting. Great job!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES! I will listen to it again.

Any additional comments?

I think this could be a great book for teaching students about History and Politics.
So well done. Anyone who likes American history is enjoy this book.

You will enjoy learning more about some Presidents

You will enjoy learning more about some Presidents and a lot more about Presidents you don't know. I'm now going to listen to a biography about Grover Cleveland Alexander as a result. If you enjoy US History, you will enjoy this book.

Informative

Would you listen to Don't Know Much About the American Presidents again? Why?

No, once was enough. It is history.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Teddy Roosevelt

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Yes, did a nice job

Any additional comments?

When you're dealing with politics, there is always a bias. Needless to say, this book leans democratic or thinking that the liberal way is always the preferred method, which leads to the authors accuracy of information and providing the whole truth about things and not what they just want to tell you.

Too Biased

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend anybody to any friend because I believe the more you read the more you will learn. So, yes I would recommend this book to a friend.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I'm not sure yet.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Hearing the narrators gives me a completely different perspective because they pronounce words more fluidly then me.

What else would you have wanted to know about Kenneth C. Davis’s life?

No Comment

Any additional comments?

The reason why I say this book is way to biased is because of the grading scale the author uses. Why couldn't he just present the facts and let the reader grade the presidencies? He gave A+'s to every president who abused their powers and expanded more government. But gave C's and below to every president who believed more in limited government.

Truely a must have for any history buffs

What did you love best about Don't Know Much About the American Presidents?

Was able to see that times may change but situations dont, we will always have a good economy then bad economy no matter the era and same for presidents.

What did you like best about this story?

Didnt feel like a lecture, felt like a scolar teaching you all his wisdom.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

So many small details you would miss if you read it where some one reading it to you you can comprehend those details all that much better

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No this is a book you listen to one or two presidents in one sitting then take a break and come back. Gives you great breaking points.

This is one of the best books on US Presidents.

This is Is one of the most comprehensive books on the US Presidents I have ever read. This book does an excellent job of breaking down each President, their background, individual story, accomplishments, and shortcomings. I highly recommend for any history buff.

Good but not one of Kenneth c Davis better books

I really enjoyed the book but I do have one major complaint, the over abundance of timelines, each president has two separate timelines, one for his life and one for his presidency. I understand that timelines are a great way to present data but the problem with them is that nobody remembers anything they see or hear in a timeline and they just zone out. I liked the information presented here though, Kenneth c davis question and answer style doesn't fit perfectly here but it is still nice at times. Great book for anyone wanting to learn the basic facts about the presidents

A great refresher course on the U.S. presidents

There was a lot of material to cover and I will definitely need to review this book again. The book approaches the information in a condensed but detailed way with great antidotes. I am now a more educated person for having listened to it. There were some dry pieces, especially in the appendix. But overall the approach was engaging by using multiple ways of telling each president's story. Some of the grading system seems off and based mainly on public opinion polls.

Learn how to make chapters

I liked the book, but hate that the so-called chapters are completely random snippets, generally 3 to 7 minutes long, named "Chapter 1" through "Chapter 338", having nothing to do with the content. I constantly had to pause to add bookmarks - two bookmarks per president (plus a few others for front matter and appendices), so I could find a specific president again if I ever wanted to. Very frustrating that the chapters aren't logical. Otherwise, very good.