History / History by country / United States / Historical period / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)

Common Sense

by Thomas Paine

When Thomas Paine first anonymously published his series of pamphlets titles Common Sense they became an overnight success. First released in 1776 at the height of the American Revolution the treatise denounced...

Common Sense

by Thomas Paine & Diana Gabaldon

In 1776, America was a hotbed of enlightenment and revolution. Thomas Paine not only spurred his fellow Americans to action but soon came to symbolize the spirit of the Revolution. His elegantly persuasive pieces...

Victory at Yorktown

by Richard M. Ketchum

From "the finest historian of the American Revolution" comes the definitive account of the battle and unlikely triumph that led to American independence (Douglas Brinkley)

In 1780, during the Revolutionary War,...

George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution

by Brian Kilmeade & Don Yaeger

*Now with a new afterword containing never-before-seen research on the identity of the spy ring’s most secret member, Agent 355

“This is my kind of history book. Get ready. Here’s the action.” —BRAD...

The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832

Pulitzer Prize for History 2014

by Alan Taylor

Winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for History

"Impressively researched and beautifully crafted…a brilliant account of slavery in Virginia during and after the Revolution." —Mark M. Smith, Wall Street Journal...

1775: A Good Year for Revolution

by Kevin Phillips

The contrarian historian and analyst upends the conventional reading of the American Revolution

In 1775, iconoclastic historian and bestselling author Kevin Phillips punctures the myth that 1776 was the watershed...

A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution

by Carol Berkin

We know--and love--the story of the American Revolution, from the Declaration of Independence to Cornwallis's defeat. But our first government was a disaster and the country was in a terrible crisis. So when...

American Creation

by Joseph J. Ellis

From the first shots fired at Lexington to the signing of the Declaration of Independence to the negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, Joseph J. Ellis guides us through the decisive issues of the nation’s...

The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison

by James Madison, Michael P. Winship & Edward J. Larson

In 1787, the American union was in disarray. The incompatible demands of the separate states threatened its existence; some states were even in danger of turning into the kind of tyranny they had so recently...

Founding Visions: The Ideas, Individuals, and Intersections that Created America

by Lance Banning, Todd Estes & Gordon S. Wood

Lance Banning was one of the most distinguished historians of his generation. His first book, The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology, was a groundbreaking study of the ideas and principles...

Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of the Nation

by Alfred F. Young, Ray Raphael & Gary Nash

In twenty-two original essays, leading historians reveal the radical impulses at the founding of the American Republic. Here is a fresh new reading of the American Revolution that gives voice and recognition...

Founding Gardeners

by Andrea Wulf

From the author of the acclaimed The Brother Gardeners, a fascinating look at the founding fathers from the unique and intimate perspective of their lives as gardeners, plantsmen, and farmers.

For the founding...

A Struggle for Power: The American Revolution

by Theodore Draper

rom one of the great political journalists of our time comes a boldly argued reinterpretation of the central event in our collective past--a book that portrays the American Revolution not as a clash of ideologies...

Patriotism and Piety: Federalist Politics and Religious Struggle in the New American Nation

by Jonathan J. Den Hartog

In Patriotism and Piety, Jonathan Den Hartog argues that the question of how religion would function in American society was decided in the decades after the Constitution and First Amendment established a legal...

Nathan Hale: The Life and Death of America's First Spy

by M. William Phelps

Now in paperback, the New York Times best-selling biography—the first in nearly a century—of the legendary Revolutionary War patriot and our country’s first spy

Blood of Tyrants: George Washington & the Forging of the Presidency

by Logan Beirne

Blood of Tyrants reveals the surprising details of our Founding Fathers’ approach to government and this history’s impact on today. Delving into forgotten—and often lurid—facts of the Revolutionary War,...

The History of American Higher Education: Learning and Culture from the Founding to World War II

by Roger L. Geiger

This book tells the compelling saga of American higher education from the founding of Harvard College in 1636 to the outbreak of World War II. The most in-depth and authoritative history of the subject available,...

The True Benjamin Franklin: An Illuminating Look into the Life of One of Our Greatest Founding Fathers

by Sydney George Fisher

In spite of being dead for over two hundred years, Benjamin Franklin remains an object of fascination for many history buffs. He was a diplomat, postmaster, political theorist, politician, scientist, satirist,...

Benjamin Franklin: American Founder, Atlantic Citizen

by Nathan R. Kozuskanich

Known for his influential role in the debates that established the founding documents of the United States, Benjamin Franklin was not only an astute politician, but also an Atlantic citizen whose commitment...

George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father

by Thomas S. Kidd

In the years prior to the American Revolution, George Whitefield was the most famous man in the colonies. Thomas Kidd's fascinating new biography explores the extraordinary career of the most influential figure...