America at 250: Books for Adults

Reflect on American history and the founding of the United States with these books for the semiquincentennial.

Updated June 30, 2026
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Founding gardeners : the revolutionary generation, nature, and the shaping of the American nation
Wulf, Andrea.
Paper Book
A groundbreaking look at the Founding Fathers and their obsession with gardening, agriculture, and botany by the author of Magnificent Rebels and New York Times bestseller The Invention of Nature. * "Illuminating and engrossing." --The New York Times Book Review<...
American inheritance : liberty and slavery in the birth of a nation, 1765-1795
Larson, Edward J.
Paper Book
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2023 From a Pulitzer Prize winner, a powerful history that reveals how the twin strands of liberty and slavery were joined in the nation's founding. New attention...
The last king of America : the misunderstood reign of George III
Roberts, Andrew
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of Churchill and Napoleon The last king of America, George III, has been ridiculed as a complete disaster who frittered away the colonies and went mad in his old age. The truth is much more nuanced and fascinating--and...
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...
Tom Paine's War: The Words That Rallied a Nation and the Founder for Our Time
Kelly, Jack
Paper Book
"Covers a narrow chronology, from September 1776 to January 1777. These were the darkest days of the Revolutionary War. They were also the months that produced some of Paine's most famous writings. The conjunction of these events and ideas is the subject of Mr. Kelly's narrative." --...
The Swamp Fox : how Francis Marion saved the American Revolution
Oller, John
Paper Book
This comprehensive biography of Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, covers his famous wartime stories as well as a private side of him that has rarely been explored In the darkest days of the American Revolution, Francis Marion and his band of militia freedom...
Never caught : the Washingtons' relentless pursuit of their runaway slave, Ona Judge
Dunbar, Erica Armstrong
Paper Book
Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction "A fascinating and moving account of a courageous and resourceful woman. Beautifully written and utilizing previously untapped sources it sheds new light both on the father of our country and on the intersections of slavery and...
The Indian world of George Washington : the first President, the first Americans, and the birth of the nation
Calloway, Colin G.
Paper Book
A biography of America's founding father and those on whose land he based the nation's future George Washington dominates the narrative of the nation's birth, yet American history has largely forgotten what he knew: that the country's fate depended less on grand rhetorical statements of independence...
Not Your Founding Father: How a Nonbinary Minister Became America's Most Radical Revolutionary
Sankovitch, Nina
Paper Book
A thrilling celebration of a forgotten early American renegade, Not Your Founding Father reconsiders just how radical the American experiment could have been. Early in the morning of October 10, 1776--in the small farming community of Cumberland, Rhode Island, in a house...
Hero of two worlds : the Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution
Duncan, Mike
Paper Book
Few in history can match the revolutionary career of the Marquis de Lafayette. Over fifty incredible years at the heart of the Age of Revolution, he fought courageously on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a soldier, statesman, idealist, philanthropist, and abolitionist. As a...
Shots heard round the world : America, Britain, and Europe in the Revolutionary War
Ferling, John E.
Paper Book
From acclaimed historian John Ferling, a major, global reappraisal of the Revolutionary War on its 250th Anniversary. In April 1775, British troops marched to Lexington, where an armed group of Yankees awaited them. Despite an order to disperse, shots rang out. Militiamen were...
The American Revolution and the fate of the world
Bell, Richard
Paper Book
In this revelatory and enthralling book, award-winning historian Richard Bell reveals the full breadth and depth of America's founding event. The American Revolution was not only the colonies' triumphant liberation from the rule of an overbearing England; it was also a cataclysm that pulled in...

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