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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 41–50 of 248 items
    The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson Book Cover
    History

    The British Are Coming

    Posted: December 22, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Rick Atkinson's book, The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777.
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    Double Feature Ten Crucial Days Read the Revolution book Covers
    History

    Double Feature: Countdown to the 10 Crucial Days

    Posted: December 15, 2021
    Read excerpts from William Kidder's Ten Crucial Days: Washington’s Vision for Victory Unfolds and Lynne Cheney's When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots.
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    Past And Prologue by Michael Hattem
    History

    Past and Prologue

    Posted: November 24, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Michael Hattem's book, Past and Prologue: Politics and Memory in the American Revolution.
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    Forgotten Allies book cover
    History

    Forgotten Allies

    Posted: November 10, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Joseph T. Glatthaar and James Kirby Martin's Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians and the American Revolution.
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    This image depicts the cover of Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood. The top of the cover is an image of the Founding Fathers, most of them standing and pointing at one another, in the midst of conversation. The bottom half of the cover is the title of the book, which is written in blue and red colors.
    History

    Power and Liberty

    Posted: October 20, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Gordon S. Wood's new book, Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution.
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    This image depicts the book cover of the Museum of the American Revolution’s Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War exhibit catalog. The cover is a painting by Don Troiani titled “Battle of Bunker Hill.” The painting shows solders behind a dirt mound, with their rifles pointing toward the right of the image. There are cannonballs lodged into the ground in front of them and smoke fills the sky.
    History

    Liberty

    Posted: October 13, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Don Troiani and the Museum's book Liberty: Don Troiani's Paintings of the Revolutionary War, which accompanies the exhibit of the same name.
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    This image depicts the book cover of Congress's Own: A Canadian Regiment, the Continental Army, and American Union by Holly A. Mayer. The top of the image is a map of Canada. The title of the book is written in red in a box, mostly covering the map. The bottom half is a white background with a painting of a soldier marching and playing a drum.
    History

    Congress's Own

    Posted: September 22, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Holly Mayer's new book, Congress's Own: A Canadian Regiment, the Continental Army, and American Union.
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    The cover of Bernardo De Galvez Spanish Hero of the American Revolution by Gonzalo Saravia depicts a black background and white lines that illustrate a horse standing on the ground. His front legs are in the air and Bernardo sits on top of him. Bernardo’s outfit is also depicted in white lines, while his hands and face are colored. He looks at the viewer and is wearing a black hat with a white brim.
    Biography & Memoir

    Bernardo de Gálvez

    Posted: September 08, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia's book, Bernardo de Gálvez: Spanish Hero of the American Revolution.
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    The Museum’s 2021 Children’s Youth Reading List includes Why Longfellow Lied: The Truth About Paul Revere’s Ride, The Age of Phillis by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, and A Parade for George Washington by David A. Adler and illustrated by John O’Brien.
    Children & Young Adults

    Summer Reading List: 2021 Young Readers Edition

    Posted: August 25, 2021
    View our list of new books about the American Revolutionary War to share stories of history with children of all ages for 2021 summer reading.
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    200th Edition Museum Staff Picks Reading List includes Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow; Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar; American Revolutions: A Continental History 1750-1804 by Alan Taylor; and The Shoemaker and the Tea Party by Alfred F. Young; and Spies in the Continental Capital by John A. Nagy. The book covers are shown two on top and two on the bottom of the image.
    Reading List

    Reading List: Read the Revolution 200th Edition Staff Picks

    Posted: August 11, 2021
    To celebrate the our 200th edition of Read the Revolution, Museum staff picked their favorite books about the American Revolution.
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