Learning styles? I seem to be unable to retain ANY knowledge, especially when reading texts for history, how ?

To what Cortney said (which is excellent) I would add a suggestion that you go through the study guide or list of terms (if your instructor gave you one) or through the terms/questions at the end of the chapter in most textbooks. Once you've taken notes from the lecture, take your list and write a paragraph about each of your questions or terms from the notes, then add information from the text. You may also find it useful to record yourself reading these answers out loud and playing it back while you're doing chores or your morning routine.