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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 201–210 of 252 items
    This image depicts the book cover of The Gun, The Ship, and The Pen by Linda Colley. The text of the title is written in large blue letters. There is an illustration, pictures vertically on the left side of the book cover. It shows a sailor, with his back to the viewer, looking out at a ship on fire in the sea.
    History

    The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen

    Posted: May 12, 2021
    Read an excerpt from historian Linda Colley's new book, The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World.
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    Image 091820 Rtr179 Hemingses Monticello Annette Gordon Reed Screen Shot 2020 09 18 At 1131 56 Am
    History

    The Hemingses of Monticello

    Posted: September 23, 2020
    Read an excerpt from Annette Gordon-Reed's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.
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    Book cover for The Howe Dynasty by Julie Flavell
    History

    The Howe Dynasty

    Posted: January 12, 2022
    Read an excerpt from Julie Flavell's book, The Howe Dynasty: The Untold Story of a Military Family and the Women Behind Britain’s Wars for America.
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    Image 090920 Rtr178 Ideological Origins American Revolution Bailyn
    History

    The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution

    Posted: September 09, 2020
    Read an excerpt from Bernard Bailyn's The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution.
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    Rtr The Indian World Of George Washington
    History

    The Indian World of George Washington

    Posted: October 24, 2018
    This excerpt from Colin Calloway shows George Washington’s initial lack of understanding of Native allies and their impact on the nation’s founding
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    The Internal Enemy Book Cover
    History

    The Internal Enemy

    Posted: September 14, 2016
    This excerpt from Alan Taylor examines the complex subject of slavery in a state dedicated to liberty and freedom, yet enslaved two-fifths of the population
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    Cover of The Journal of Charlotte L. Forten featuring a photograph of an older Charlotte.
    Children & Young Adults

    The Journal of Charlotte L. Forten

    Posted: March 08, 2023
    Read an excerpt from The Journal of Charlotte L. Forten, edited by Ray Allen Billington.
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    The King's Three Faces Book Cover
    History

    The King's Three Faces

    Posted: October 26, 2016
    This excerpt from Brendan McConville discusses the physical and symbolic destruction of objects associated with the British Monarchy.
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    The Last King Of America by Andrew Roberts
    Biography & Memoir

    The Last King of America

    Posted: May 25, 2022
    Read an excerpt from Andrew Roberts' book, The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of King George III.
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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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