America Turns 250: Essential Reading

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City comes a sweeping chronicle challenging the traditional mythology of the nation’s beginnings and championing the unsung women behind the American Revolution.

“In Obstinate Daughters, Denise Kiernan delivers a lively and illuminating portrait of the women behind the American Revolution. These often overlooked figures emerge not as footnotes but as driving forces—bold, strategic, and indispensable to the birth of a nation.”—Gilbert King, Pulitzer-prizewinning author of Devil in the Grove

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This striking graphic edition adapts the first half of the New York Times bestselling The British Are Coming, the opening volume in Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson’s extraordinary trilogy about the American Revolution.

Full of riveting details and iconic stories, The British Are Coming is a tale of heroes and knaves, of sacrifice and blunder, of redemption and profound suffering. Expertly rendered in gripping graphic novel-style artwork, the battle for our nation’s independence is brought to life like never before. Discover the first act of America’s creation in this vividly illustrated graphic history.

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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.

“From a small spark kindled in America, a flame has arisen not to be extinguished.” —Thomas Paine

“A sprawling canvas in every sense, including its generous use of paintings and maps . . . The book and, no doubt, its companion film will effectively ground the coming national conversation about our origins. We can’t avoid the American Revolution, so we might as well face it squarely. This hefty volume does just that, and reminds us how, against all odds, a fractious people came together in the first place.” —Ted Widmer, The New York Times Book Review

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A 250th anniversary celebration of the U.S. featuring 1,000 singular moments that shaped the American journey from pre-history to present.

This lavish narrative, curated by National Geographic, collects 1,000 seminal moments in U.S. history alongside more than 300 stunning illustrations, timelines, and sidebars. Part examination, part celebration, this glorious book captures the will of the American people to continue defining themselves after 250 years, reflecting the diversity, pride, and resiliency of these United States.

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Celebrate 250 years of American history—and witness the nation’s decade-by-decade evolution—in this gorgeously illustrated volume featuring more than 600 Smithsonian objects.

The nation’s semiquincentennial is an opportunity to reflect on the past with care and curiosity. The scope of American history is vast, but The Promise of a Nation distills it into compelling narratives that speak to the strength and aspirations of the American people and inspire optimism for what comes next.

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