Don't Know Much about Geography: Everything You Need to Know about the World But Never Learned

The author of the successful Don't Know Much About History returns to correct his countrymen's lack of knowledge about geography, a lack established when Americans aged 18 to 24 scored lowest on a 1988 test of geographic literacy given to young people of all industrialized nations. Davis writes with an entertaining, breezy touch and encompasses such interesting considerations as the origin of the belief in a race of Amazons. Besides essential geographic information, chapters cover the history of geographical studies, an overview of large cities of the past and present, the effect of climate on developing civilizations and astronomy. Helpful lists, ranging from glossaries to current and former names of countries and U.N. membership are included. Davis's eminently readable treatise should help remedy an ignorance that has even been discussed in the U.S. Senate. Author tour. (Oct.)