Books on American Revolutionary War

In the dramatic few years when colonial Americans were galvanized to resist British rule, perhaps nothing did more to foment anti-British sentiment than the armed occupation of Boston. As If an Enemy’s Country is Richard Archer’s gripping narrative of those critical months between October 1, 1768 and the winter of 1770 when Boston was an occupied town. Bringing colonial Boston to life, Archer deftly moves between the governor’s mansion and cobblestoned back-alleys as he traces the origins of the colonists’ conflict with Britain. When the British government decided to garrison Boston with troops, it posed a shocking challenge to the people of Massachusetts. The city was flooded with troops; almost immediately, tempers flared and violent conflicts broke out. Archer’s vivid tale culminates in the swirling tragedy of the Boston Massacre and its aftermath, including the trial and exoneration of the British troops involved. American Revolution causes, social causes of American War of Independence, books on American Revolutionary War.

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Broadsides and Bayonets; the Propaganda War of the American Revolution – Books on American Revolutionary War to Read

Berger, Carl

Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania 1961

Originally published in 1961, author Carl Berger has “attempted to encompass the story of propaganda and subversion in the American Revolutionary War. The archives and literature of the Revolution contain many intriguing references to “secret arts and machinations,” some relating to incidents familiar to us, others touching on events long forgotten. This book for the first time brings them together in a single narrative, examining their role and importance.” -Publisher. Books on American Revolutionary War.

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The War of the American Revolution: Narrative, Chronology, and Bibliography – Books on American Revolutionary War Free

Coakley, Robert W. and Conn, Stetson

Washington: Center of Military History, U.S. Army 1975

This publication was produced by the U.S. Army’s Center of Military History in conjunction with the celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial, specifically to commemorate the Continental Army of the Revolutionary War. The purpose was to provide a “ready reference” for study of the Continental Army, a “distillation of existing scholarship in the form of a summary and chronology of events, and a bibliography which provides the basis for additional reading, study, or research.” -Preface. Best Revolutionary War books, books on American Revolutionary War.

Science and the Founding Fathers: Science in the Political Thought of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams & James Madison – Books about Early American History

Cohen, I. Bernard

Norton 1995

America’s founding fathers were remarkably well-rounded people, not least in their understanding of science. Thomas Jefferson was the only president who could read and understand Newton’s Principia. Benjamin Franklin, in 1775, held international fame in science. John Adams had the finest education in science the new country could provide, and James Madison, chief architect of the Constitution, peppered his Federalist Papers with reference to physics, chemistry, and the life sciences. For these men science was an integral part of life – including political life. This is the story of their scientific education and of how they employed that knowledge in shaping the political issues of the day, incorporating scientific reasoning into the Constitution. Books about early American history.

A Struggle for Power: The American Revolution – Books on American Revolutionary War

Draper, Theodore

Times 1996

Draper’s startlingly original account of the causes and nature of the American Revolution is an acute dissection of the process that led to the final break with England and to the armed revolt in 1775. He lucidly examines the logic of dissolution, and the manifold ways in which trade and commerce resulted in an inexorably unfolding revolutionary process. Books on American Revolutionary War.

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Sister Revolutions: French Lightning, American Light – Free Online Books on American Revolutionary War

Dunn, Susan

Faber and Faber 1999

In 1790, the American diplomat and politician Gouverneur Morris compared the French and American Revolutions, saying that the French “have taken Genius instead of Reason for their guide, adopted Experiment instead of Experience, and wander in the Dark because they prefer Lightning to Light.” Although both revolutions professed similar Enlightenment ideals of freedom, equality, and justice, there were dramatic differences. The Americans were content to preserve many aspects of their English heritage; the French sought a complete break with a thousand years of history. The Americans accepted nonviolent political conflict; the French valued unity above all. The Americans emphasized individual rights, while the French stressed public order and cohesion.
Why did the two revolutions follow such different trajectories? What influence have the two different visions of democracy had on modern history? And what lessons do they offer us about democracy today? In a lucid narrative style, with particular emphasis on lively portraits of the major actors, Susan Dunn traces the legacies of the two great revolutions through modern history and up to the revolutionary movements of our own time. Her combination of history and political analysis will appeal to all who take an interest in the way democratic nations are governed. Books on American Revolutionary War.

Death or Liberty: African Americans and Revolutionary America – Books about Early American History

Egerton, Douglas R.

Oxford Univ. 2009

In Death or Liberty, Douglas R. Egerton offers a sweeping chronicle of African American history stretching from Britain’s 1763 victory in the Seven Years’ War to the election of slaveholder Thomas Jefferson as president in 1800. While American slavery is usually identified with antebellum cotton plantations, Egerton shows that on the eve of the Revolution it encompassed everything from wading in the South Carolina rice fields to carting goods around Manhattan to serving the households of Boston’s elite. More important, he recaptures the drama of slaves, freed blacks, and white reformers fighting to make the young nation fulfill its republican slogans. Although this struggle often unfolded in the corridors of power, Egerton pays special attention to what black Americans did for themselves in these decades, and his narrative brims with compelling portraits of forgotten African American activists and rebels, who battled huge odds and succeeded in finding liberty–if never equality–only in northern states. Books on American Revolutionary War.

Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution – Online Books on American Revolutionary War

Ferling, John E.

Oxford Univ. 2000

“The story of the American Revolution and of the three Founders who played crucial roles in winning the War of Independence and creating a new nation: George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Braiding three strands into one rich narrative, John Ferling brings these American icons down from their pedestals to show them as men of flesh and blood, and in doing so gives us a new understanding of the passion and uncertainty of the struggle to form a new nation… ‘Setting the World Ablaze’ shows in dramatic detail how these conservative men–successful members of the colonial elite–were transformed into radical revolutionaries.” -Publisher. Books on American Revolutionary War.

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Signers of the Declaration: Historic Places Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence – Books about Early American History

Ferris, Robert G., ed.

U.S. Dept. of Interior, National Park Service 1975

This is a volume in the series, “The National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings”. Part I: Signers of the Declaration: Historical Background. Part II: Signers of the Declaration: Biographical Sketches. Part III: Signers of the Declaration: Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings. Part III has profiles for approximately 55 buildings and sites identified with the signers. There appears to be a photo included for each site. Books on American Revolutionary War.

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Washington’s Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge – Books on American Revolutionary War PDF

Fleming, Thomas J.

Smithsonian Books 2005

“The defining moments of the American Revolution did not occur on the battlefield or at the diplomatic table, writes New York Times bestselling author Thomas Fleming, but at Valley Forge. Fleming transports us to December 1777. While the British army lives in luxury in conquered Philadelphia, Washington’s troops huddle in the barracks of Valley Forge, fending off starvation and disease even as threats of mutiny swirl through the regiments. Though his army stands on the edge of collapse, George Washington must wage a secondary war, this one against the slander of his reputation as a general and patriot… Written with his customary flair and eye for human detail and drama, Thomas Fleming’s gripping narrative develops with the authority of a major historian and the skills of a master storyteller. Washington’s Secret War is not only a revisionist view of the American ordeal at Valley Forge – it calls for a new assessment of the man too often simplified into an American legend. This is narrative history at its best and most vital.” -Publisher. Books on American Revolutionary War.

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Tom Paine and Revolutionary America – Books on American Revolutionary War PDF

Foner, Eric

Oxford Univ. 1976

Since its publication in 1976, Tom Paine and Revolutionary America has been recognized as a classic study of the career of the foremost political pamphleteer of the Age of Revolution, and a model of how to integrate the political, intellectual, and social history of the struggle for American independence. Foner skillfully brings together an account of Paine’s remarkable career with a careful examination of the social worlds within which he operated, in Great Britain, France, and especially the United States. He explores Paine’s political and social ideas and the way he popularized them by pioneering a new form of political writing, using simple, direct language and addressing himself to a reading public far broader than previous writers had commanded. Books on American Revolutionary War.

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American Revolution: People and Perspectives – Books on American Revolutionary War

Frank, Andrew, ed.

ABC-CLIO 2007

American Revolution features the work of 14 accomplished social historians, whose findings are adding new dimensions to our understanding of the Revolutionary era. But some of the most fascinating contributions to this volume come from the people themselves–the anecdotes, letters, diaries, journalism, and other documents that convey the experiences of the full spectrum of American society in the mid- to late-18th century (including women, African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, soldiers, children, laborers, Quakers, sailors, and farmers). Books on American Revolutionary War.

The American Revolution Considered as a Social Movement – Free Books Online on American Revolutionary War

Jameson, J. Franklin

Beacon 1956

“Four lectures delivered at Princeton [in 1925] picturing vividly the social background and conditions of the revolutionary period. “To those attracted by such a subject these lectures are an illuminating introduction and guide. It need not be said that the scholarship is impeccable, the style is polished, and that, above all, the outlook is broad and thoughtful.” – American Historical Review. Books on American Revolutionary War.

Saratoga: Turning Point of America’s Revolutionary War – Free Books on American Revolutionary War PDF

Ketchum, Richard M.

Holt 1997

In the summer of 1777 (twelve months after the Declaration of Independence) the British launched an invasion from Canada under General John Burgoyne. It was the campaign that was supposed to the rebellion, but it resulted in a series of battles that changed America’s history and that of the world. Stirring narrative history, skillfully told through the perspective of those who fought in the campaign, Saratoga brings to life as never before the inspiring story of Americans who did their utmost in what seemed a lost cause, achieving what proved to be the crucial victory of the Revolution. A New York Times Notable Book, 1997. Books on American Revolutionary War.

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