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Read the Revolution

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

Featured Books

Captives of Liberty

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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Black Founders

Read an excerpt from the Museum of the American Revolution's exhibit book, Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia.

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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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The Words That Made Us

Read an excerpt from Akhil Reed Amar's book, The Words That Made Us: America's Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840.

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Until Justice Be Done

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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    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.
    Black Founders Exhibit Catalog Cover featuring a portrait of James Forten.
    Book cover for Wayne Lee's The Cutting-Off Way.
    Book cover for Akhil Reed Amar's The Words That Made Us with black font on parchment colored background.
    Until Justice Be Done by Kate Masur teal book cover with white text.

    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 181–190 of 191 items
    Journal of the American Revolution Book Cover
    History

    Journal of the American Revolution

    Posted: December 17, 2013
    Read an excerpt from the Journal of the American Revolution.
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    Journal of the American Revolution Book Cover
    History

    Turning Point

    Posted: December 17, 2013
    This excerpt from Todd Andrlik features an article by Thomas Fleming revealing a turning point for General George Washington during the American Revolution
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    This image shows the book cover of The Last Muster: Images of the Revolutionary War Generation by Maureen Taylor. The background is a deep, brown and the title of the book is written in white at the top. On the bottom is Maureen’s name, also written in white. In the center are four framed photographs of older people from the Revolutionary generation.
    History

    The Last Muster

    Posted: December 02, 2013
    Read this excerpt from Maureen Taylor’s The Last Muster to learn more about three veterans of the American Revolution—Nathaniel Ames, Agrippa Hull, and Ezra Green.
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    Image 10152020 Readrevolutionbookcover Economy Building
    History

    Financial Founding Fathers

    Posted: November 19, 2013
    This excerpt by authors Robert Wright and David Cowen reveals how Robert Morris brought order to the early American economy and created the first national bank.
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    Image 10152020 Readtherevolutionbookcover Revolutionarycharacters 0
    History

    Revolutionary Characters

    Posted: November 05, 2013
    Read an excerpt from Gordon Wood where he explains the origins of Thomas Paine's radical thinking through Paine's pamphlet Common Sense.
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    The American Revolution Writings From The War book cover
    History

    The American Revolution

    Posted: October 08, 2013
    Read this excerpt of a letter by Benedict Arnold 'to the Inhabitants of America' that reveals the ideological shift he experienced over the course of war.
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    Image 10152020 Readtherevolutionbookcover The Other Side
    History

    The Men Who Lost America

    Posted: September 24, 2013
    Read an excerpt from Andrew O'Shaughnessy about the failings of ten British leaders whose actions shaped the outcome of the American Revolution.
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    Image 10152020 Readtherevolutionbookcover American Scripture
    History

    American Scripture

    Posted: August 27, 2013
    Read an excerpt of Pauline Maier where she provides a glimpse into the creation of a radical rethinking that led to America's experiment in democracy.
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    Women's Work Book Cover
    History

    Liberty's Daughters

    Posted: August 13, 2013
    Read an excerpt from Mary Beth Norton's book, Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800.
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    Revolutionary Summer book cover
    History

    Revolutionary Summer

    Posted: July 13, 2013
    This excerpt from Joseph Ellis explains how the success of the Battle of Long Island came from the combined result of lucky breaks for the Americans.
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