Try free for 30 days

  • Don't You Believe It!

  • Exposing the Myths Behind Commonly Believed Fallacies
  • By: Herb Reich
  • Narrated by: Michael Kramer
  • Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook free.
1 credit/month after trial—to buy any title you like, yours to keep.
Listen all you want to a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Don't You Believe It! cover art

Don't You Believe It!

By: Herb Reich
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $17.99

Buy Now for $17.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Editorial reviews

This engaging audiobook begins by declaring that George Washington was not the first president of the United States and continues to astound from there.

When Michael Kramer, who sounds like a gravelly-voiced Shakespearean actor, states a previously unquestioned "fact", he immediately follows it up with a mirthful "Don’t you believe it!" and proceeds to unravel the fallacious myth. Easily persuaded by Kramer’s deep, authoritative voice, a listener begins to question a trove of information previously assumed to be sacrosanct.

Among dozens of other common errors, author Herb Reich alleges that Cleopatra was not in fact Egyptian and that French fries were not invented in France. School teachers, it turns out, can be wrong.

Publisher's Summary

If you think that witches were burned at Salem, that St. Patrick was Irish, and that George Washington was our first president... don't you believe it! Our cherished culturally shared beliefs stem from a variety of sources, many of which propagate old wives' tales, myths, self-serving fantasies, innocent fallacies, or sheer nonsense. History is replete with stories of great men and events that either never happened or didn’t happen the way we were told they did. Such items are part of our common knowledge. They are taught in schools. They are passed down to us by our families and friends and have become part of shared cultural knowledge, accepted without question. And they are wrong.

Here, Herb Reich explodes 200 myths that you probably accept as fact, including: Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player in the major leagues. The captain of a ship can perform marriages. Mussolini's trains ran on time. Charles Lindbergh was the first man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday in 1839. The Mason-Dixon line was drawn to separate the slave South from the free North. Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag. Cleopatra was Egyptian. Chicago is called "the windy city" because of the gusts off Lake Michigan.

It is a cliche that history is written by the victors. But Don’t You Believe It! will demonstrate that it is also written by teachers, by newsmen, by heirs, by hucksters, and occasionally by someone who has a lousy memory or an axe to grind.

©2010 Herb Reich (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Don't You Believe It!

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

cool stories bro

my first review because this gem only has one other. no plot. a mostly engaging collection of historical and trivial tid bits.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.