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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 211–220 of 272 items
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Forged in Philadelphia

Posted: November 18, 2015
Read an excerpt from Rebecca Eckfeldt Gibby's children's book where she uncovers the history of her Revolutionary-era ancestor from Philadelphia.
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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.

The Last Muster

Posted: November 11, 2015
Read this excerpt from Maureen Taylor’s book that complied over 50 19th-century photographs and shares biographical information for each person.
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Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality book cover

Our Declaration

Posted: October 27, 2015
This excerpt from Danielle Allen examines the Declaration of Independence, the document’s relevance today, and the relationship between freedom and equality
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Epic Journeys of Freedom book cover

Epic Journeys of Freedom

Posted: October 14, 2015
Read this excerpt from Cassandra Pybus that personalizes the wartime stories of black men and women who fled their American masters to seek freedom.
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Book Cover of American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution

American Spring

Posted: September 29, 2015
This excerpt from Walter R. Borneman looks at the first six months of 1775, as tensions between the colonial resistance and the British Government grew.
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This image depicts the book cover of Reporting The Revolutionary War by Todd Andrlik. The background is a newspaper article text, black text written on a white background. On the left side of the cover, there is the painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River. On the right side of the book cover, there is a red box with white text written in it that says, “Before it was History, it was news.”

Reporting the Revolutionary War

Posted: September 15, 2015
This excerpt tells how a British decision to confiscate gunpowder from Williamsburg's magazine provoked outrage and action by the city's patriots.
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Hessians

Hessians

Posted: August 25, 2015
This excerpt from Brady Crytzer provides a look at the American Revolutionary War from the perspective of German Hessian soldiers who fought for the British
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Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It book cover

Whirlwind

Posted: August 11, 2015
This excerpt from John Ferling shows the trials and tribulations women faced during the long conflict of the American Revolutionary War.
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An Empire on the Edge: How Britain Came to Fight America book cover

An Empire on the Edge

Posted: July 28, 2015
Read an excerpt from Nick Bunker as he describes the Rhode Island colonist attack on a British ship which widened divisions between colonists and the Crown.
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Kidnapping the Enemy book cover

Kidnapping the Enemy

Posted: July 14, 2015
This excerpt from Christian McBurney shows Lieutenant Colonel Barton preparing for the successful July 10, 1777 raid on General Prescott's sleeping quarters.
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