Read the Revolution

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

Featured Books

The Compleat Victory

Read an excerpt from Kevin J. Weddle's The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution.

Founding Finance

Read an excerpt from William Hogeland's book, Founding Finance: How Debt, Speculation, Foreclosures, Protests, and Crackdowns Made Us a Nation.

A Bard of Wolfe's Army

Read an excerpt from the book, A Bard of Wolfe’s Army: James Thompson, Gentleman Volunteer, 1733-1830, edited by Earl John Chapman and Ian Macpherson McCulloch.

Indigenous Continent

Read an excerpt from Pekka Hämäläinen's book, Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America.

Unveiling Memories

Read an excerpt from Iberdrola's book Unveiling Memories: Spain and the Hispanic Contribution to American Independence edited by José Manuel Guerrero Acosta.

The Compleat Victory Saratoga and the American Revolution by Kevin Weddle book cover.

Founding Finance book cover by William Hogeland.

Unveiling Memories book Cover by Iberdrola

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.

Subscribe Now

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

Filter By:

Showing 131–140 of 229 items

Sort by:

History

Betsy Ross

Posted: May 24, 2017

Read an excerpt from Marla Miller who breaks through the myths and weaves Betsy Ross's life story with that of the nation's.

History

American Crisis

Posted: May 10, 2017

Read an excerpt from William Fowler Jr.'s book, American Crisis: George Washington and the Dangerous Two Years after Yorktown, 1781-1783.

History

Sealed with Blood

Posted: April 26, 2017

This excerpt from Sarah Purcell argues shared experiences of the Revolutionary War offered Americans an opportunity to create a sense of national identity

History

The Day the American Revolution Began

Posted: April 12, 2017

In this excerpt from military historian William H. Hallahan he recounts April 19, 1775, the Day the American Revolution Began.

History

Belonging to the Army

Posted: March 22, 2017

This excerpt by Holly Mayer introduces different types of camp followers and the services they provided to the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War

History

Revolutionary Conceptions

Posted: March 08, 2017

In this excerpt, Susan Klepp discusses how the terms "virtue" and "prudence" came to be associated with women during the American Revolution.

Biography & Memoir

A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution

Posted: February 22, 2017

This excerpt includes a journal entry of a young Hessian soldier during the month of July 1781, the summer before the surrender at Yorktown.

Biography & Memoir

The Swamp Fox

Posted: February 08, 2017

Read an excerpt from John Oller's biography on Francis Marion, that seeks to unpack and debunk some of the myths on the "Swamp Fox" of the Revolutionary War

History

Citizen Sailors

Posted: January 25, 2017

This excerpt from Nathan Perl-Rosenthal that examines evolving concepts of identity, nationality, and citizenship in the decades leading to the War of 1812.

Biography & Memoir

Washington's General

Posted: January 11, 2017

Read an excerpt from Terry Golway's biography of Nathanael Greene, who was appointed by Washington as commander of the Southern Army.

14 of 23 pages