America at 250: History of the American Revolution nonfiction for adults

Celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary by checking out some history books about the American Revolution. Browse this list for titles available at the Sussex County Library System.

Updated February 10, 2026
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Rebels at sea privateering in the American Revolution
Dolin, Eric Jay author.
Paper Book
The heroic story of the founding of the U.S. Navy during the Revolution has been told many times, yet largely missing from maritime histories of America's first war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation's character--above all, its ambition and entrepreneurial...
The Great New York Fire of 1776 a lost story of the American Revolution
Carp, Benjamin L. author.
Paper Book
Who set the mysterious fire that burned down much of New York City shortly after the British took the city during the Revolutionary War?   "An elegant, reader-friendly example of assiduously researched, carefully written American history that feels definitive."-...
Liberty is sweet the hidden history of the American Revolution
Holton, Woody author.
Paper Book
A "deeply researched and bracing retelling" (Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian) of the American Revolution, showing how the Founders were influenced by overlooked Americans--women, Native Americans, African Americans, and religious dissenters. Using more than...
The cause the American Revolution and its discontents, 1773-1783
Ellis, Joseph J. author.
Paper Book
In one of the most "exciting and engaging" (Gordon S. Wood) histories of the American founding in decades, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis offers an epic account of the origins and clashing ideologies of America's revolutionary era, recovering a war more brutal, and more...
Our first civil war patriots and loyalists in the American Revolution
Brands, H. W. author.
Paper Book
"A fast-paced, often riveting account of the military and political events leading up to the Declaration of Independence and those that followed during the war ... Brands does his readers a service by reminding them that division, as much as unity, is central to the founding of our nation."--...
American rebels how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families fanned the flames of revolution
Sankovitch, Nina author.
Paper Book
Nina Sankovitch's American Rebels explores, for the first time, the intertwined lives of the Hancock, Quincy, and Adams families, and the role each person played in sparking the American Revolution. Before they were central figures in American history, John Hancock,...
Valiant ambition George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the fate of the American Revolution
Philbrick, Nathaniel.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestselling Author A National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist From the author of National Book Award winner In the Heart of the Sea comes a surprising account of the middle years of the American Revolution and the tragic relationship between George...
Independence lost lives on the edge of the American Revolution
DuVal, Kathleen
Paper Book
In an entirely new, global perspective on the Revolutionary period, Kathleen DuVal reveals personal stories such as that of Irish trader Oliver Pollock, Scottish plantation owners James and Isabella Bruce, and Creek leader Alexander McGillivray for whom the American Revolution was more complicated...
American spring Lexington, Concord, and the road to revolution
Borneman, Walter R., 1952-
Paper Book
A vibrant look at the American Revolution's first months, from the author of the bestseller The Admirals. When we reflect on our nation's history, the American Revolution can feel almost like a foregone conclusion. In reality, the first weeks and months of 1775 were...
George Washington's secret six : the spies who saved America
Kilmeade, Brian
Paper Book
A page-turning middle-grade adaptation of the New York Times bestseller about George Washington's top-secret spy ring that helped defeat the British. The American Revolution is well under way in 1776, but things are looking bleak for General George Washington and his Continental Army....
"A few bloody noses" the realities and mythologies of the American Revolution
Harvey, Robert, 1953-
Ebook
The noted British historian and author of Liberators offers a colorful, enlightening and myth-busting history of the American Revolution. According to King George III, Britain merely wanted to give America "a few bloody noses" and return to mutual cooperation. Yet the...
A people's history of the American Revolution how common people shaped the fight for independence
Raphael, Ray
Paper Book
The first major effort to tell the history of the American Revolution from the often overlooked standpoints of its everyday participants, A People's History of the American Revolution is a highly accessible narrative of the wartime experience that brings in the stories of previously marginalized...
The American Revolution a world war
Allison, David K., 1950- editor of compilation.
Paper Book
A lavishly illustrated essay collection that looks through a global lens at the American Revolution and re-positions it as the real 1st world war "Every American should read this marvelous book." -Douglas Brinkley, author of Rightful Heritage- Franklin D. Roosevelt...
Revolution song a story of American freedom
Shorto, Russell author.
Paper Book
From the author of the acclaimed history The Island at the Center of the World, an intimate new epic of the American Revolution that reinforces its meaning for today. Russell Shorto's work has been praised as "first-rate intellectual history" (Wall Street Journal),...

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