Read the Revolution

A curated collection of thought-provoking books about the American Revolution.

Featured Books

A Bard of Wolfe's Army

Read an excerpt from the book, A Bard of Wolfe’s Army: James Thompson, Gentleman Volunteer, 1733-1830, edited by Earl John Chapman and Ian Macpherson McCulloch.

Feeding Washington's Army

Read an excerpt from Ricardo A. Herrera's book, Feeding Washington's Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778.

Flora MacDonald: "Pretty Young Rebel"

Read an excerpt from Flora Fraser's new book, Flora MacDonald: “Pretty Young Rebel”: Her Life and Story.

Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word

Read an excerpt from Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word, written by Sarah Jane Marsh and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.

Indigenous Continent

Read an excerpt from Pekka Hämäläinen's book, Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America.

Book cover for Feeding Washington's Army by Ricardo A. Herrera featuring an image of Harrington Fitzgerald's painting Valley Forge Winter.

Flora Macdonald Pretty Young Rebel book cover by Flora Fraser

Cover for Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word by Sarah Jane Marsh.

About

Curated by Museum staff since 2013, Read the Revolution features excerpts from thought-provoking books about the American Revolution. Read the Revolution was created with thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Subscribe to get the biweekly Read the Revolution featured excerpts emailed right to your inbox for free.

Subscribe Now

Speaker Series

Inspired by the Read the Revolution featured excerpts, the Read the Revolution Speaker Series brings celebrated authors and historians to the Museum for lively, facilitated discussions of their work. Each Read the Revolution Speaker Series program, hosted by Museum President & CEO Dr. R. Scott Stephenson, includes a special talk and audience Q&A.

About the Series

All Books

Filter By:

Showing 1–10 of 232 items

Sort by:

Biography & Memoir

Flora MacDonald: "Pretty Young Rebel"

Posted: January 25, 2023

Read an excerpt from Flora Fraser's new book, Flora MacDonald: “Pretty Young Rebel”: Her Life and Story.

History

Feeding Washington's Army

Posted: January 11, 2023

Read an excerpt from Ricardo A. Herrera's book, Feeding Washington's Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778.

Children & Young Adults

Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word

Posted: December 28, 2022

Read an excerpt from Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word, written by Sarah Jane Marsh and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.

Biography & Memoir

A Bard of Wolfe's Army

Posted: November 23, 2022

Read an excerpt from the book, A Bard of Wolfe’s Army: James Thompson, Gentleman Volunteer, 1733-1830, edited by Earl John Chapman and Ian Macpherson McCulloch.

History

Indigenous Continent

Posted: November 02, 2022

Read an excerpt from Pekka Hämäläinen's book, Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America.

History

Founding Finance

Posted: October 12, 2022

Read an excerpt from William Hogeland's book, Founding Finance: How Debt, Speculation, Foreclosures, Protests, and Crackdowns Made Us a Nation.

History

Unveiling Memories

Posted: October 05, 2022

Read an excerpt from Iberdrola's book Unveiling Memories: Spain and the Hispanic Contribution to American Independence edited by José Manuel Guerrero Acosta.