100 Books Like Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library

We all know about the Declaration of Independence and recognize at least a few of the dozens of signatures of the men who signed it. But who knew about the single female name that appears on the document?

Here’s the story of Mary Katharine Goddard, a businesswoman and newspaper publisher, who dared to break the norms of society. When the call went out for a printer to publish the treasonous Declaration, she rose to the task and went so far as to put her name on it! This story offers a fascinating peek into the life of a revolutionary woman.

You may recognize the names of revolutionary era patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock, an unlikely duo, who led the resistance against British rule in Massachusetts. The British, too, knew their names—but they called them troublemakers.

Here’s a peek behind the scenes of the battles of Lexington and Concord, when the two men barely escaped capture by the redcoats. I love these kinds of stories that make history come alive and allow us to see the real people in action facing challenges and decisions. 

A gingerbread baker had a role in the American Revolution? I had to know more!

I love stories of people behind the scenes, everyday people like us, so often overlooked. These stories let us know that we’re all a part of history. In this book, a German immigrant uses his baking talents to support George Washington’s troops.

Recently, I’ve learned with my research for an upcoming book about how difficult it was to supply the Continental Army with food. Starving soldiers had to go out and forage for food—one of the many everyday struggles of the time that brings history home. I also love that it’s a story of generosity. Rockliff’s lively books never fail to engage me as a reader. 

I’ve always loved stories with intrigue. Here’s a book about a female spy during the American Revolution.

George Washington’s spies came from all walks of life—men, women, people of color. When Anna Smith Strong hung her laundry out to dry, she was multitasking! She appeared to be doing the wash, but she was using code to pass information about British military activity. As a member of the Culper spy ring, she took risks in the fight for independence.

Winter, one of my favorite nonfiction authors, has written a witty, bracingly honest reference book about the smart, talented men who founded our nation (four became presidents). I like how the data about each one adds up to an interesting character sketch (a few details about James Madison: he weighed 100 pounds, enjoyed chess and horseback riding, and owned 108 human slaves, although he professed to be anti-slavery).

Young readers will come away with the understanding that our founders were not saints—they were imperfect human beings capable of greatness and weakness.

George Washington was given the opportunity to become King of America as it struggled mightily following the Revolution.

I am inspired by his selflessness after giving every ounce of his spiritual, emotional, and physical might to the cause. He turned it down in perhaps the single most powerful speech in America’s history. His power and influence over this young nation was set aside in an example that resonates still today.

I love how his story of courage against impossible odds and his steadfast confidence in the support of providence allowed the birth of something unique and wonderful. Thomas Jefferson attributed the “…moderation and virtue of a single individual…” to the survival of the cause of freedom in America. 

This is not just a book about the destruction, dispersal, and re-organisation of medieval libraries after the Reformation; it also encourages us to interrogate the very nature of the collections upon which historians rely.

From Jennifer Summit, I learnt that it is misguided to think of early modern libraries and archives as neutral spaces; rather, they shape and change the meaning of the works displayed on their shelves.

In her book, we come to see such libraries, including the foundational collections of the British Library and the Bodleian Library, as distinctively post-Reformation in character, paving the way for accounts of the triumph of Protestantism across the centuries.

Next to Franklin, Thomas Jefferson is surely the most inventive, innovative member of the American Revolutionary pantheon. He is known for his powerful formulations of revolutionary ideas—in the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and his inaugural address as third President of the United States. These contributions rested on deep and disciplined study in the human sciences, including history, geography, ethnography, political economy, as well as applied sciences such as horticulture, viticulture, and architecture. In their learned meditation on the life and thought of this most learned of American founders, Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter Onuf offer a fresh perspective on Jefferson.

In so many ways, he embodied the cutting-edge values of the American Revolution, but Jefferson also embodied the contradictions of the Revolution—particularly as they related to the institution of slavery. Rather than dismiss him as a hypocrite, Gordon-Reed and Onuf set out to explain Jefferson. For… show more.

What were the economic motives behind the Revolution? This question has been a subject of historical debate for over a century, often with the spurious assumption (in my view) that if the Revolution had economic motives, then it could not also have ideological meanings. And yet, even ideologues need money. 

Economic explanations of the revolution have often suffered from being too general. The economies of Massachusetts and Virginia were so different that it is difficult to craft an economic explanation that encompasses both. Holton solves this problem by focusing on Virginia, making a strong argument for the relationship between ideological concerns (especially ideas of race) and economic ones (around debt and the ownership of land, slaves, and commodities).

Holton’s work has been some of the most influential and intellectually productive work of the last generation, making a strong argument about the economics of the Revolution in Virginia (one of the… show more.

Mention “honor” in an 18th-century context, and most people think of dueling. Honor was about dueling, but it was also about much more. As Smith shows, a sense of honored suffused the 18th-century world. Different understandings of what honor meant helped propel the separation between Britain and its colonies. Smith takes the Founders' ideals seriously. Though they often fell short, knowing what they aimed for provides key insight into the mental universe they inhabited—and the legacy the left the new nation.