Reading is the cornerstone to understanding the history regarding the American Revolution.  Most become interested in the time period through the reading of a good book on the topic.  At least one member of our organization have read each of these books and recommend them for both the educational value and the validity contained therein.

Henry Knox 
John Adams 
John Quincy Adams 
John Dickinson 

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Henry Knox

Guns for General Washington : A Story of the American Revolution (Great Episodes) Title: Guns for General Washington || Author: Seymour Reit || ISDN: 0-15216-435-9 || Released: August 2001
The story of a key episode early in the American Revolution tells how William and Henry Knox perform the nearly impossible feat of bringing cannons in midwinter from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. Heroic characters and the details of their struggle make interesting reading that outweighs choppy, short chapters and occasionally forced writing.
The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates Title: Henry Knox, a Soldier of the Revolution || Author: Noah Brooks || ISDN: 0-30670-617-2 || Released: July 1974
No review available....

John Adams

John Adams: A Life Title: John Adams: A Life || Author: John Ferling || ISDN: 0-80504-576-7 || Released: June 1996
If you are interested in learning more about our John Adams, this is one of the best works ever written on him.  John Ferling did an extraordinary biography using facts, not fiction in altering our original conception of our second president.  Historians of late seem to be elevating Adams' importance to beyond that of Jefferson and this book along with several others make a strong case for it.
The Generals of Saratoga : John Burgoyne & Horatio Gates by Max M. Mintz Title: John Adams || Author: David McCullough || ISDN: 0-68481-363-7 || Released: May 2001
Overshadowed by the lustrous presidents Washington and Jefferson, who bracketed his tenure in office, Adams emerges from McCullough's brilliant biography as a truly heroic figure--not only for his significant role in the American Revolution but also for maintaining his personal integrity in its strife-filled aftermath. McCullough spends much of his narrative examining the troubled friendship between Adams and Jefferson, who had in common a love for books and ideas but differed on almost every other imaginable point. Reading his pages, it is easy to imagine the two as alter egos. (Strangely, both died on the same day, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.) But McCullough also considers Adams in his own light, and the portrait that emerges is altogether fascinating
For Want of a Nail by Robert Sobel Title: Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams || Author: Joseph Ellis || ISDN: 0-39331-133-3 || Released: September 1994
The felicitously written book has done a great deal to raise John Adams' reputation among the general public. Ellis concentrates on Adams' retirement years with chapters on his political writings, his correspondence with Jefferson, his other friendships, and his family life. While Ellis' goal is to explore Adams' character, this book necessarily covers Adams' remarkable achievements and explains clearly Adams' contributions as a political thinker. Adams was a complex figure; warm-hearted, sometimes vituperative, an unsystematic thinker and writer and thinker with remarkable insights. Adams refusal to accept the somewhat facile conventions of Jeffersonian liberalism made him an anachronism but his skepticism about American exceptionalism proved prescient. Adams was also remarkably accurate in major policy decisions. Over and over again, he made the right choice, even when his choices were unpopular.

John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams : A Public Life, a Private Life Title: John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life || Author: Paul Nagel || ISDN: 0-67447-940-8 || Released: April 1999
Too much of Nagel's book reads like a synopsis of irrelevant events and journeys that Adams describes in his diaries. The reader longs for more interpretation, less chronicling. Nagel has nevertheless written the best biography of Adams between two covers. Still, John Quincy Adams has now inspired more biographies than he perhaps warrants, and it's time for historians to give the subject a rest.
John Quincy Adams Title: John Quincy Adams || Author: Lynn Hudson Parsons || ISDN: 0-94561-259-1 || Released: March 1999
After reading this well written biography, I experienced the sorrows, joys, and accomplishments in the life of one of our country's greatest statesmen.
Wants of a Man Title: Wants of a Man || Author: John Quincy Adams || ISDN: 1-55709-453-5 || Released: April 1999
The felicitously written book is a difficult read but if read 2 or 3 times, will give you a unique introspective of the thoughts of this great man.

John Dickinson

Letters From A Farmer In Pennsylvania To The Inhabitants Of The British Colonies (Notable American Authors) Title: Letters From A Farmer In Pennsylvania To The Inhabitants Of The British Colonies || Author: John Dickinson || ISDN: 0-781-22637-6
 || Released: February 1992
 Required reading for those looking into the opposition belief that we should reconcile our differences with England.  This was an honorable man who stood by his convictions and fought for what he believed in.  This book is a bit pricey, but well worth it.

 

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