Book cover of Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom

Book description

Russell Shorto's work has been praised as "first-rate intellectual history" (Wall Street Journal), "literary alchemy" (Chicago Tribune) and simply "astonishing" (New York Times).

In his epic new book, Russell Shorto takes us back to the founding of the American nation, drawing on diaries, letters and autobiographies to flesh out…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Revolution Song as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

So many books are written about the Big Men. But I prefer stories that give me a sense of daily life, from church bells to tomahawks. That’s why I loved the intricacy of Russell Shorto’s book, which looks at the fight for independence through the lens of six very different sorts of people: an Indigenous leader, an emancipated slave, a British officer, a humble shoemaker, an impoverished woman who began her life in luxury, and George Washington himself.

They all come alive on the page, but I found Venture Smith, a free Black man who settled in Connecticut, to be…

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These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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