The American Revolution: An Intimate History

From the award-winning historian and filmmakers of The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The Roosevelts, and others: a richly illustrated, human-centered history of America's founding struggle--expanding on the landmark, six-part PBS series to be aired in November 2025

"From a small spark kindled in America, a flame has arisen not to be extinguished." --Thomas Paine

In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic coast rose in rebellion, won their independence, and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired independence movements and democratic reforms around the globe.

The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. In this sumptuous volume, historian Geoffrey C. Ward ably steers us through the international forces at play, telling the story not from the top down but from the bottom up--and through the eyes of not only our "Founding Fathers" but also those of ordinary soldiers, as well as underrepresented populations such as women, African Americans, Native Americans, and American Loyalists, asking who exactly was entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Enriched by guest essays from lauded historians such as Vincent Brown, Maya Jasanoff, Jane Kamensky, and Alan Taylor, and by an astonishing array of prints, drawings, paintings, texts, and pamphlets from the time period, as well as newly commissioned art and maps--and woven together with the words of Thomas Paine-- The American Revolution reveals a nation still grappling with the questions that fueled its remarkable founding.

Author: Geoffrey C. Ward,Kenneth Burns
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 11/11/2025
Pages: 608
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 5.10lbs
Size: 11.20h x 9.80w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9780525658672


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 07/01/2025 pg. 12
Publishers Weekly 09/22/2025
Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2025
Booklist 10/01/2025

About the Author
GEOFFREY C. WARD, historian and screenwriter, is the author of twenty books, including A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Francis Parkman Prize, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has written or cowritten many documentary films, including The Vietnam War, The Civil War, Baseball, The War, The West, Mark Twain, Not for Ourselves Alone, and Jazz. KEN BURNS, the producer and director of numerous film series, including The Vietnam War, The Roosevelts, and The War, founded his own documentary film company, Florentine Films, in 1976. His landmark film The Civil War was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television, and his work has won numerous prizes, including the Emmy and Peabody Awards, and two nominations for Academy Award. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire.