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Read the Revolution

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

Featured Books

The Overflowing of Friendship

Read an excerpt from Richard Godbeer's book, The Overflowing of Friendship: Love Between Men and the Creation of the American Republic.

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Prisoners of Congress

Read an excerpt from Norman E. Donoghue II's book, Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777-1778.

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Freedom's Prophet

Read an excerpt from Richard S. Newman's book, Freedom’s Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers.

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Give Me a Fast Ship

Read an excerpt from Tim McGrath's book, Give Me a Fast Ship: The Continental Navy and America's Revolution at Sea.

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The Cutting-Off Way

Read an excerpt from Wayne E. Lee's new book, The Cutting-Off Way: Indigenous Warfare in Eastern North America, 1500–1800.

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    Image 100223 Rtr251 Overflowing Of Friendship Godbeer Cover
    Cover for Norman Donoghue's book Prisoner's of Congress which features a blue illustration of the top of Independence Hall atop the book title in blue over a beige background.
    Book cover for Freedom's Prophet by Richard Newman featuring a large scale portrait of Bishop Richard Allen.
    Book cover for Tim McGrath's book Give Me a Fast Ship featuring the title in black text over a goldish brown background with stars and a painting of naval ships.
    Book cover for Wayne Lee's The Cutting-Off Way.

    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.

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    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

    Showing 1–10 of 195 items
    Book cover for Freedom's Prophet by Richard Newman featuring a large scale portrait of Bishop Richard Allen.
    History

    Freedom's Prophet

    Posted: November 22, 2023
    Read an excerpt from Richard S. Newman's book, Freedom’s Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers.
    Read More
    Book cover for Tim McGrath's book Give Me a Fast Ship featuring the title in black text over a goldish brown background with stars and a painting of naval ships.
    History

    Give Me a Fast Ship

    Posted: November 08, 2023
    Read an excerpt from Tim McGrath's book, Give Me a Fast Ship: The Continental Navy and America's Revolution at Sea.
    Read More
    Cover for Norman Donoghue's book Prisoner's of Congress which features a blue illustration of the top of Independence Hall atop the book title in blue over a beige background.
    History

    Prisoners of Congress

    Posted: October 25, 2023
    Read an excerpt from Norman E. Donoghue II's book, Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia’s Quakers in Exile, 1777-1778.
    Read More
    Image 100223 Rtr251 Overflowing Of Friendship Godbeer Cover
    History

    The Overflowing of Friendship

    Posted: October 11, 2023
    Read an excerpt from Richard Godbeer's book, The Overflowing of Friendship: Love Between Men and the Creation of the American Republic.
    Read More
    Book cover for Wayne Lee's The Cutting-Off Way.
    History

    The Cutting-Off Way

    Posted: September 27, 2023
    Read an excerpt from Wayne E. Lee's new book, The Cutting-Off Way: Indigenous Warfare in Eastern North America, 1500–1800.
    Read More
    Book cover for Akhil Reed Amar's The Words That Made Us with black font on parchment colored background.
    History

    The Words That Made Us

    Posted: September 13, 2023
    Read an excerpt from Akhil Reed Amar's book, The Words That Made Us: America's Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840.
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    Black Founders Exhibit Catalog Cover featuring a portrait of James Forten.
    History

    Black Founders

    Posted: August 23, 2023
    Read an excerpt from the Museum of the American Revolution's exhibit book, Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia.
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    Book cover for Captives of Liberty features a painting that depicts a Hessian soldier and a British redcoat leading a Continental soldier away as a prisoner.
    History

    Captives of Liberty

    Posted: August 09, 2023
    Read an excerpt from T. Cole Jones's book, Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution.
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    Until Justice Be Done by Kate Masur teal book cover with white text.
    History

    Until Justice Be Done

    Posted: July 26, 2023
    Read an excerpt from Kate Masur's book, Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction.
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    The Road To Yorktown edited by Norman Desmarais book cover
    History

    The Road to Yorktown

    Posted: July 12, 2023
    Read an excerpt from Norman Desmarais's edited edition of The Road to Yorktown: The French Campaigns in the American Revolution, 1780-1783.
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