The Great Book of American Trivia: Fun Random Facts & American History (Trivia USA)

Author Bill O’Neill has authored many books on Trivia and stands as somewhat of an expert in this field! His topics include movies, football, baseball, wars, rock music and simply random trivia facts. This volume is American trivia (a subset that grows broader my the hour these days!) To set the mood of the book Bill states, ‘The United States of America has a long and complex history—sometimes dark and sometimes colorful—full of tall tales, half-truths, and hard facts you’ll find harder to believe than the myths. The history we learn as young children is the stuff of flowery fantasy in some cases, and it gets more honest and less interesting the older we get until we finish school. But we never get to the meat of it until we enter the real world and learn life isn’t and never was that easy or perfect. No one really knows for sure when the landmass now known as the United States of America first became inhabited by people, but like most of the rest of the world, it’s not where humans originated, so all we can do is guess who they were and how long ago they came. Most well-educated guesses say the land became peopled when hunter-gatherers crossed Beringia from modern Russia into what we now know as Alaska, moving gradually south, likely in search of warmer climates. The populations we refer to as Native Americans, or indigenous peoples, may be their descendants, but in any case, they are the people who have longest resided on this land in modern history. They were the sole human residents of the landmass until Europeans arrived in the fifteenth century, and mostly from there is where the story begins, at least for this book. How the United States went from being unoccupied by humans to being one of the most populated countries in the world and the world’s greatest superpower is a long, meandering, cacophonous story that might be better addressed in a complete set of encyclopedias rather than two-hundred-word vignettes that can only serve to peek behind the curtain. This book of American trivia is meant to give a broad overview of the biggest events—admittedly with a few more trivial but very interesting tidbits along the way—in a way that delivers truth without getting into debate about bias. History can get dry, so humor is a great alleviator, but quite frankly, not all of it is very funny. Some of it is hard to hear, and some of it sparks debate, sometimes because of one’s interpretation and sometimes because the version we learned hasn’t been unlearned, and the new, not as pleasant information might come as a surprise.’ The book is divided into fascinating sections – Native American history, 1492 -1783 Colonial History through the American Revolution, 1783 – 1918 American Independence to World War I, 1918 – 1964 World War Ito Civil Rights, 1964 – NOW Civil Rights to “Oh My God, What Have We Done?”, More Pivotal Moments in United States History, American Culture, and American Geography. Bill closes his book with a particularly interesting section he calls ‘Interesting Facts – such as ‘2. The most crooked street in the world is Wall Street. — DRUMROLL! — Just kidding, it's actually the aptly named Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa, and if you get carsick, you probably shouldn't go.’ Not only is the book entertaining – it is also very instructive for every reader. Have fun, learn, and be ready for the next gathering of very smart friends! You’ll be on top. Grady Harp, December 17

As we retired, we bought a house and Kentucky. So now this is a good piece of Educational material I gave my spouse to use In the jon.

I bought this book for my dad when he was in the hospital. He found it to be very enjoyable and highlighted a lot of fun American history and facts! Loved it!

A fun read, but had several errors. Made me wonder about some of the others books by this author that I have read

for lovers of American History...all those interesting facts you didn't read about in your high school history class textbooks?...they're here in this well researched trivia book that will amaze and delight you!

I enjoyed the book for the most part. However I did note a couple of errors. The author mentioned that at 9-11, two planes were flown into the ground. There was only one, in Pennsylvania. He also mentioned that Joseph P. Kennedy, older brother of JFK, died in World War I. Joe Kennedy died in World War II.

Another fantastic book by the author! I loved it, it's packed with trivia and quizzes about the US and it's founding. History is interesting but Bill really makes it fun too. Love it!

This was not a good book at all. It was biased and slanted way too much to the left politically. It is not fit to pass on to anyone. I have thrown it in the trash! I only gave it 1 star because the review page wouldn’t let me post it with all blank stars.