Over the years since this book was first published, a great many people have assisted me with ideas and inspiration. The Don’t Know Much About® series has grown because of the support, friendship, commitment, and hard work of a great many people, and I would like to honor them all. I would first like to thank my parents for those many trips to Fort Ticonderoga, Gettysburg, Freedomland, and all the other places that gave me a taste for the human side of history. From a very early age, when my father first tossed me into Lake Champlain to teach me to swim in the same waters that Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had crossed in 1775, I understood that history doesn’t just happen in books. It happens to real people who do real things in real places. If we could only get that across to our kids in the classroom, history wouldn’t be seen universally as “boring.”
For their advice, hard work, and friendship, I would like to thank all my friends at the David Black Literary Agency: David Black, Leigh Ann Eliseo, Antonella Iannarino, Dave Larabell, Gary Morris, Susan Raihofer, and Joy Tutela.
This new edition was achieved only with the support and enthusiasm of many friends and colleagues at my publisher, and I am very grateful for all of the many people at HarperCollins, past and present, who made this book possible. For their support and assistance I thank Cathy Hemming, Susan Weinberg, Carie Freimuth, Christine Caruso, Laurie Rippon, Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich, David Koral, Elliott Beard, Camillo LoGiudice, Leslie Cohen, Gail Winston, and Christine Walsh. I would also like to sing praises to the steadfast support of Harper’s Carrie Kania, Jennifer Hart, and my editor Michael Signorelli, along with Erica Barmash, Mitchell Berg, Kate Blum, Diane Burrowes, Hope Innelli, Cal Morgan, Nicole Reardon, Andrea Rosen, Alberto Rojas, Robert Spizer, and Virginia Stanley. A special word of thanks to publicist Laura Reynolds.
Among those who helped me realize the original edition of this book, I would like to thank my original editor, Mark Gompertz, who gave me my first encouragement, and his friendship is still of great value to me. I would also like to thank Mark Levine and Steve Boldt for their insights and comments on the original manuscript. I am also grateful to the late Michael Dorris, who shared his special insights into the American Indian. I also thank Marga Enoch for her friendship and for the support and encouragement she has given to my career.
Over the years, many readers, teachers, parents, and students have shared their enthusiasm for history with me, and I wish to thank all who have corresponded with me. Their reactions and encouragement have meant a great deal to me.
One of the greatest pleasures of my life during the past thirteen years has been traveling the country and meeting the booksellers of America who have been so crucial to the success of this book and this series. As a former bookseller, I offer three cheers to the people who take books out of the shipping boxes, put them out on the shelves, and then sell them with honest and sincere appreciation for the importance of the written word.
Finally, my greatest thanks to my family. To my children, Jenny and Colin, for their patience, humor, support, and love. And to my wife, Joann, who had the wisdom a long time ago to tell me to write about the things I love, I give my eternal gratitude.