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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 141–150 of 252 items
    Rebels Rising Book Cover
    History

    Rebels Rising

    Posted: February 24, 2015
    This excerpt from Benjamin Carp explains the role of colonial meeting spaces as opinions of everyday people gained increasing political influence.
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    Two ships on the cover of a took titled Rebels at Sea
    History

    Rebels at Sea

    Posted: June 22, 2022
    Read an excerpt from Eric Jay Dolin's book, Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution.
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    Remarkable Women New England Book Cover
    History

    Remarkable Women of New England

    Posted: August 18, 2020
    This excerpt from Carole Owens explores women’s various roles and responsibilities between 1754 and 1787, including those of laborers and business owners.
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    Renegade Revolutionary Book Cover
    History

    Renegade Revolutionary

    Posted: June 03, 2014
    This excerpt from Phillip Papas shows the tension building between George Washington and General Charles Lee and their very different military ideologies.
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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.”
    History

    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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    This image depicts the book cover of Revolution Against Empire by Justin Du Rivage.
    History

    Revolution Against Empire

    Posted: November 08, 2017
    Read this excerpt from Justin du Rivage that introduces the competing ideological groups who shaped and reshaped the debates during the American Revolution
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    Rtr Revolution Song
    History

    Revolution Song

    Posted: March 28, 2018
    This excerpt from Russell Shorto weaves together the life stories of six historical figures against the backdrop of the American Revolution.
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    Rtr Revolutionary
    Fiction

    Revolutionary

    Posted: February 28, 2018
    Read an excerpt from Alex Myers's historical fiction novel on Deborah Sampson, a woman who joined the Continental Army at the age of 21 disguised as a man.
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    Image Rtr177 Revolutionary Backlash
    History

    Revolutionary Backlash

    Posted: August 26, 2020
    Read an excerpt from Rosemarie Zagarri's Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic.
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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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