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Read the Revolution

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

Featured Books

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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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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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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Death or Liberty

Read an excerpt from Douglas Egerton's book, Death or Liberty: African Americans in the Revolutionary War.

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    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.
    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.
    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.
    The book cover of Death or Liberty by Douglas Egerton featuring John Singleton Copley's painting depicting Black Loyalist Boston King.

    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 61–70 of 261 items
    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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    This image depicts the cover of Plain Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution by Richard Beeman. The title of the book is written in the middle with a red background. The top of the book covers shows a black illustrated eagle with a white background. The bottom image is of the Founding Fathers and is in color.
    History

    Plain, Honest Men

    Posted: July 28, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Richard Beeman's book, Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution.
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    This image depicts A Crisis of Peace by David Head book cover. It is a colored portrait of General Washington.
    History

    A Crisis of Peace

    Posted: July 14, 2021
    Read an excerpt from David Head's book, A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution.
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    This image depicts the Standing in Their Own Light book cover by Judith Van Buskirk. The image is a painting of a person of African Descent in military clothing. He his wearing a blue jacket and carrying a rifle pointed upward in his right hand. His right leg is bent, giving the illusion that he is walking on a field.
    History

    Standing in Their Own Light

    Posted: June 23, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Judith L. Van Buskirk's book, Standing in Their Own Light: African American Patriots in the American Revolution.
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    The image depicts Colonists Citizens Constitutions book cover by James Hrdlicka. It is a blue cover with a photo of the first few lines of the constitution. “We, the people of the United States,” is a visible.
    History

    Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions

    Posted: June 09, 2021
    Read an excerpt from James Hrdlicka's exhibition book Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions: Creating the American Republic.
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    This image depicts the Winning Independence: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781 book cover by John Ferling. Hi name is written on the bottom of the cover. The title of the book is written in black with an off yellow background. And the top of the cover shows a portrait of George Washington on horseback with soldiers surrounding him and smoke filling the air behind them. There are three red coated solders standing to the right of Washington.
    History

    Winning Independence

    Posted: May 26, 2021
    Read an excerpt of John Ferling's new book, Winning Independence: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781.
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    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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    This image depicts the book cover of James Monroe: A Life by Tim McGrath. James Monroe is written in red, while A Life and Tim’s name is written in white. The cover is a portrait of James Monroe in a black jacket. His body is turned off to his left looking in the same direction.
    Biography & Memoir

    James Monroe

    Posted: April 28, 2021
    Read an excerpt from Tim McGrath's book, James Monroe: A Life.
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