Why I Wrote America's Hidden History

Why don't we know much about history?

For nearly twenty years, I have been working on that very troublesome question –and trying to solve the problem by writing and talking to people about history and other subjects that fascinate me. And having some fun doing it. Through my DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT® series of books for adults and children, I have tried to address the common myths, misconceptions and ignorance too many people have –whether it's about American History, geography, the Bible, mythology or a host of other subjects I think we all "need to know."

In my books, I have always tried to do several key things: ask intriguing questions; speak to people in a language they understand; make these subjects more entertaining and appealing than they were for most of us in school; show how history is about flesh and blood people not just dates and battles; and most crucially, connect the past to the present.

I am happy to say the approach seems to work. My books have shown that people don't hate history, just the dull version they got in their textbooks. Teachers, parents, readers of all ages have found my books a way to learn the things that they either forgot or never learned. And they've seen that doing it can be fun, which is not the same as frivolous. I call it "serious fun."

Now I've left the smooth waters of the DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT® series on a new voyage of discovery. Some people might think I'm a fool for tampering with success. But I felt that it was time to extend myself as a writer and tell stories in more detail and complexity than I could in the shorter, question-and-answer format of the DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT® series. For nearly twenty years, I've been working in familiar --call it 'safe'-- territory. A few years ago, I found myself yearning for the challenge of telling longer, very important stories as dramatic narratives. It is part of that grand American notion of 'setting out for the territories' --heading for the unexplored.

That is the reason I chose to write AMERICA'S HIDDEN HISTORY. But there is still a strong connection between what I did before and this new venture. First, all good history is good story-telling; it's about real people doing real things and I've searched for good stories that I think will force people to question a lot of assumptions we all have –which is the same goal I always had in the DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT books. Second, my emphasis has always been to prove that history is not about dead old guys who have nothing to do with us.

But history is about the past shaping the present. And this new book continues to explore that theme, showing how the conflicts of the past continue to ripple through the world and the country.

Whether it is the role of religion in shaping America –for better or worse—or the issues of economic disparity that continue to divide the nation, the six stories in America's Hidden History all speak to who we are as a nation, how we got here, and how the past continues to play a part in our politics and national destiny.

So how about you? Do you think you do or don't know much about History? And does it matter?

© 2008 Kenneth. Davis

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