Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party & the Making of America
by Benjamin L. Carp
A good discussion of the issues and events that culminated in the destruction of the tea in 1773.
Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Not just a history of the battle, this book provides a thorough look at the events following the Boston Tea Party, leading up to Lexington and Concord and eventually to the British departure from Boston in 1776.
The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation
by Nancy Rubin Stuart
The story of a remarkable woman sister of one leading patriot and wife of another who played a surprising role in shaping political thinking during the Revolution, then wrote an early history of those events.
American Tempest: How the Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolution
by Harlow Giles Unger
Two good discussions of the issues and events that culminated in destruction of the tea in 1773, and how that led to the war’s beginning.
Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution’s Lost Hero
by Christian Di Spigna
Biography of a forgotten patriot leader who played a key role in the events of 1775.
The Minutemen and their World
by Robert A. Gross
A fascinating study of the farmers and townsmen of Concord in the years before they gathered at North Bridge.
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams
by Stacy Schiff
A new biography of the patriot leader, detailing his behind-the-scenes efforts to sway popular opinion over a fifteen-year period, with an excellent discussion of the political issues that roiled Boston in the years before the Revolution.
Paul Revere’s Ride
by David Hackett Fischer
A modern history of events that led up to the famous ride, and of the fighting that occurred later that day.
The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord
by Ray Raphael
Tells the little-known story of how residents of rural Massachusetts effectively overthrew the royal government, without force, seven months before the first shots were fired.
An Empire on the Edge: How Britain Came to Fight America
by Nick Bunker
Written by a British historian, this is an unusual analysis of how attitudes and perceptions in London differed from those in Boston, and how those misunderstandings led to war.
Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past
by Ray Raphael
Examines some legends of the American Revolution that have become “accepted fact” in our history books, and digs out the story of what really happened.
Paul Revere and the World He Lived In
by Esther Forbes
Although it was published 70 years ago, this outstanding book is still the best available overview of what happened in Boston in the 1760s and 1770s. Not just a biography of Paul Revere, it describes life and politics during this tumultuous period. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
Masquerade: The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson
by Alfred F. Young
True story of a young woman who enlisted and served in the Continental Army.
As If an Enemy's Country: The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution
by Richard Archer
Describes events that led up to the Boston Massacre, and the Massacre itself.
