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Read the Revolution

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

Featured Books

Female Genius

Read an excerpt from Mary Sarah Bilder's book, Female Genius: Eliza Harriot and George Washington at the Dawn of the Constitution.

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King Hancock

Read an excerpt from Brooke Barbier's book, King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father.

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Witness to Revolution Exhibit Reading List

See five books recommended by the Museum that explore key people connected to George Washington’s tent and were critical to researching and constructing the exhibition.

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The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley

Read an excerpt from David Waldstreicher's book, The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence.

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Brothers in Liberty

Read an excerpt from Phillip Thomas Tucker's book, Brothers in Liberty: The Forgotten Story of the Free Black Haitians Who Fought for American Independence.

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    Book cover for Female Genius written in a wavy font across the bottom third features Columbia holding the American flag.
    Book cover for King Hancock book featuring a large portrait of John Hancock's face with the title King Hancock in gold and Hancock written in his famous signature.
    Introductory wall panel in the Witness to Revolution special exhibit with white text on a red background.
    Cover for David Waldstreicher's book The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley with the book title and author name in bold black font against an orange background with a colorized version of Phillis Wheatley's portrait in the center.
    Book cover for Brothers in Liberty features the book title in yellow on a red background in the middle of the cover with the subtitle right below in white.

    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 262 items
    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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    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.
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    Conference On Collecting The Revolutionary War
    Reading List

    Reading List: Authors Featured at 2022 Conference on Collecting the Revolutionary War

    Posted: April 06, 2022
    Read a selection of excerpts from books written by 2022 Conference on Collecting the American Revolution presenters.
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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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    Reading List Cities Book Cover
    History

    Reading List: The Role of Cities in the American Revolution

    Posted: June 17, 2020
    Check out nine suggested readings from our collection of Read the Revolution book excerpts addressing the role of cities in the American Revolution.
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    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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