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Don't Know Much About the American Presidents

By: Kenneth C. Davis
Narrated by: Arthur Morey, Kirby Heyborne, Mark Bramhall, Kenneth C. Davis
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Publisher's summary

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
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What listeners say about Don't Know Much About the American Presidents

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Comprehensive Book!

I have read many individual books on Presidents, but this one has it all! Just have it!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very informative

I really liked the different narrators for the different sections of each President. It broke up and possible monotony that could happen from such a long book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very informative

Enjoyable & informative. Improved my knowledge of POTUS considerably. Surprised with the rating for Jackson, A - was expecting C based upon the narrative.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thorough and unbiased

This book follows a basic structure of documenting the life and presidency of each of the United States presidents from George Washington to Barak Obama, as well as their qualifications, associations, achievements and special notes, culminating in a final grade for each president. It was an excellent journey across American history.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting and informative. Very long...

If you could sum up Don't Know Much About the American Presidents in three words, what would they be?

Wow. Interesting. Long.

Who was your favorite character and why?

George Washington. The only guy who seems to actually live up closely to the
standard description of the old "noble" politicians when scrutinized.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Kept me interested and listening to this extremely long audiobook.

Any additional comments?

I was really sucked into this audiobook for the first 13 presidents. I couldn't stop listening because I found out how little I actually knew about the beginnings of how the country's politics worked and what the politicians were really like. After that, it's hard to stick with it. I love listening to lots of different political/history books, and sticking with one that's over 20 hours was hard. I also had to relisten to a lot of it because it took me months to finish, lol. But definitely worth the investment of time.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent Overview on American Presidents

Enjoyed the audio book very much, as it was a great introduction to/refresher on the American Presidents. Provides a very basic/broad overview of the challenges and accomplishments of every President.

However, many may find parts of the format awkward and tedious. Not all aspects of the book, i.e. the timelines, translate well to audio format. The main narrator is excellent, but it took some time to get used to the changes in narrators during specific portions of each chapter, i.e. question and answer sections and Presidential voices.

Overall, the audio book provides basic information and a helpful overview, and may inspire some listeners to go further. For greater detail and understanding, this book may inspire others to seek out full biographies on specific Presidents. It certainly did for me; recommending this book accordingly.

#Inspiring #SuccessStories #AmericanPresident #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

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