An readable and educated discussion of the problems caused in our society by the lack of the basic knowledge which Americans and their high-school and college-aged children fail to recognize, and what to do about raising that level of basic knowledge to a point of national pride. Contains a 70-page Appendix of the names, dates, and facts of basic knowledge that Every American should know. A work much criticized at the time (1987) as expecting too much from public education but, as the years have passed and the problem of the failure of our schools to address the lack of this basic knowledge has increased, more teachers and educators are accepting its premises.
