The Best Books on the American Revolution and the Founders

The American Revolution is often told as a story of documents and declarations, but it was also a hard-fought war and a long argument among remarkable, very different people. These books cover both: the fighting of the war's pivotal year, and the lives and ideas of the founders who shaped the new republic.

Where to start

If you want action, begin with 1776. If you are more interested in people and ideas, start with one of the three biographies; each shows the Revolution through a different temperament. Save The Federalist Papers for when you know the background, then read a handful of essays rather than all of them at once. More founders' lives appear on our biography shelf.

1. 1776

David McCullough focuses on a single year of the war. It runs from the siege of Boston through the disastrous campaign for New York to Washington's crossing of the Delaware and the surprise victory at Trenton. British commanders and ordinary soldiers appear alongside George Washington and his generals.

This is the most accessible book on the list: compact, dramatic and clear on the military events. It is a natural first read for anyone who knows the Declaration of Independence but not what happened on the battlefield that year. It suits newcomers and also makes a strong gift.

Because it concentrates on one year, it does not cover the whole war or its political debates in depth. Think of it as a vivid window rather than a complete survey, and follow it with one of the biographies below to see the larger picture of how independence was won and what the founders then had to build.

2. John Adams

McCullough's biography follows Adams from his Massachusetts law practice to the Continental Congress, years of diplomacy in Europe, the vice presidency and the presidency. His partnership with his wife Abigail, revealed through their letters, is central, as is his long friendship and rivalry with Thomas Jefferson.

It is a big book, but it reads easily and with great warmth. Adams emerges as prickly, principled and deeply human. It is ideal for readers who like to understand history through character and family life, and it adds a New England perspective to the founding story.

Readers often finish it wanting to know more about the people around Adams. Franklin and Hamilton both appear in its pages, sometimes as allies and sometimes as irritants, which makes the next two books on this list natural companions.

3. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Walter Isaacson traces Franklin's life from a Boston childhood and printing career in Philadelphia to his electrical experiments, his years in London, his diplomacy in France during the war, and his role at the Constitutional Convention. Franklin's humour and practicality come through on every page.

Isaacson writes clearly and keeps the pace up, so this is among the more approachable big founder biographies. It suits readers interested in science and invention as well as politics. If you enjoy it, his Leonardo da Vinci applies the same approach to a very different genius.

Franklin was a generation older than most of the other founders, so his life also gives a useful picture of colonial America before the break with Britain. That makes this biography a good bridge between the colonial world and the new republic.

4. Alexander Hamilton

Ron Chernow tells the story of Hamilton's birth in the Caribbean, his arrival in New York, his service as Washington's aide during the war, his work on the Federalist essays, and his time as the first Treasury Secretary. The book ends with his fatal duel with Aaron Burr in 1804.

This is a long and detailed biography, sometimes demanding on financial matters, but vivid and persuasive. It famously inspired the stage musical Hamilton, and many readers come to it that way. It suits those who want to understand how the new government actually worked.

Chernow is also good on Hamilton's bitter disputes with Jefferson and Adams, which helped give rise to the first political parties. If you read John Adams first, you will enjoy seeing the same quarrels from the other side.

5. The Federalist Papers

Written in 1787–88 under the shared pen name "Publius," these 85 essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay argued for ratifying the proposed Constitution. They discuss federal power, the separation of powers, the presidency, the courts and the problem of faction.

This is a primary source, not a narrative, and the eighteenth-century prose takes concentration. Start with a few of the best-known essays, such as Madison's No. 10 and No. 51, and use an edition with an introduction. It is essential reading for anyone interested in how the founders thought about government.

Reading it after Chernow's biography is especially rewarding, since you will already know the circumstances in which Hamilton and his co-authors were writing and what was at stake in the ratification debates.

How to choose / Reading order

A good path is 1776, then one biography, then a few Federalist essays. For the decades that followed, see the best books on early America and the American West, and for many more lives, the best history biographies.

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