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 81–90 of 229 items

Sort by:

Biography & Memoir

Rush

Posted: July 10, 2019

Read an excerpt from Stephen Fried's biography of Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence and surgeon-general in the Continental Army.

Children & Young Adults

Summer 2019 Reading List

Posted: June 26, 2019

View our list of 2019 Summer Reading Books about the American Revolutionary War to share stories of history with children of all ages!

History

Declaration

Posted: June 12, 2019

This excerpt by William Hogeland explores the people, backroom politicking, and passions that ignited our pursuit of liberty during the American Revolution.

History

The Unruly City

Posted: May 22, 2019

This excerpt from Mike Rapport shows London’s response to the American Revolution - Londoners sought political reforms but not a British revolution.

History

The Martyr and the Traitor

Posted: May 08, 2019

This excerpt from Virginia DeJohn Anderson adds complexity to our understanding of choosing sides in the Revolutionary era.

History

Archaeology at the Site of the Museum of the American Revolution

Posted: April 24, 2019

Read this timeline by historical archaeologist Rebecca Yamin about the artifacts discovered during the excavation of Philadelphia's newest Museum.

History

Lexington and Concord

Posted: April 10, 2019

This excerpt from Arthur Tourtellot takes us on a journey into the events of Lexington and Concord starting with an overview of the British Army in Boston

History

A Perfect Union

Posted: March 27, 2019

This excerpt from Catherine Allgor shows how Dolly Madison became a well known figure in the United States, even earning the title of “America’s Queen.”

History

Revolutionary Mothers

Posted: March 13, 2019

This excerpt from Carol Berkin shows that while women different experiences of the American Revolution, they each played a unique role in its efforts.

History

The Counter-Revolution of 1776

Posted: February 27, 2019

This excerpt from Gerald Horne demonstrates how the Revolution reinvigorated the slave trade and subsequently bore a counter-revolution of slavery.

9 of 23 pages