Biographies & Non-Fiction

Restoring Williamsburg

From our fascinating and highly readable best-selling classic, Williamsburg Before and After to our revised and expanded edition, Restoring Williamsburg combines the history of a major restoration bringing the story up to present. Sheds new...

Black Patriots and Loyalists: Fighting for Emancipation in the War for Independence

We commonly think of the American Revolution as simply the war for independence from British colonial rule. But, of course, that independence actually applied to only a portion of the American population—African Americans would still be bound in...

First and Always: A New Portrait of George Washington

George Washington may be the most famous American who ever lived, and certainly is one of the most admired. While surrounded by myths, it is no myth that the man who led Americans’ fight for independence and whose two terms in office largely...

Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington

In Realistic Visionary, renowned George Washington scholar Peter Henriques seeks to humanize the first president without diminishing him. Henriques’s Washington makes mistakes, is sensitive to criticism, and is slow to accept blame, but he is also...

Hero of Two Worlds

From the bestselling author of The Storm Before the Storm and host of the Revolutions podcast comes the thrilling story of the Marquis de Lafayette’s lifelong quest to defend the principles of liberty and equality. "Few in history can match the...

Travels With George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy

Does George Washington still matter? In Travels With George, bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick argues for Washington's unique contribution to the forging of America by retracing his journey as a new president through all thirteen former colonies,...

America's Forgotten Colonial History

From the publisher: "This is what we all learned in school: Pilgrims on the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. They had a rough start, but ultimately made a go of it, made friends with the Indians, and celebrated with a big Thanksgiving dinner...

The Course of History: Ten Meals That Changed the World

Some of the most consequential decisions in history were decided at the dinner table, accompanied - and perhaps influenced - by copious amounts of food and drink. The Course of History: Ten Meals That Changed the World is a fascinating book that explores...

The Words That Made Us: America's Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840

Go on a literary journey with preeminent legal scholar Akhil Reed Amar! In his 800+ page book, The Words That Made Us: America's Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840, Amar covers the history of the American Constitution's formative decades.  When...

First Principles

In First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks offers a revelatory book about the...

A History of Tea

As the world's most popular beverage, tea has fascinated us, awakened us, motivated us, and calmed us for well over two thousand years. A History of Tea tells the compelling story of the rise of tea in Asia and its eventual spread to the West and beyond...

Inventing the American Flag

With gorgeous four-color reproductions of an amazing array of art from diverse cultures and eras, Inventing the American Flag explores the symbolism of the national flag and investigates why the founding fathers chose the images they did to represent the...

Bricks: Now and Then

“Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.” - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Buildings made of brick are found in very different epochs and cultures all over the world. Always astonishing, the qualities of...

Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership

Franklin and Washington: The Founding Partnership is the latest book from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson and is a masterful, first-of-its-kind dual biography of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, illuminating the enduring...

American Stories

American Stories by Paul Aron follows the evolution of our founding stories and myths and how they spread far and wide throughout our history. The story of the cherry tree, for example, tells us nothing about George Washington’s actual...

Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity

When hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and other disasters strike, we count our losses, search for causes, commiserate with victims, and initiate relief efforts. Amply illustrated and expansively researched, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity...

Peyton Randolph and Revolutionary Virginia

In 1763, King George III’s government adopted a secret policy to reduce the American colonies to "due subordinance" and exploit them. This brought on the American Revolution. In Virginia, there was virtually unanimous agreement that...

Founding Mothers

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Cokie Roberts comes New York Times bestseller Founding Mothers, an intimate and illuminating look at the fervently patriotic and passionate women whose tireless pursuits on behalf of their families–and...

Revolutionary Brothers

Steeped in primary sources, Revolutionary Brothers casts fresh light on the remarkable, often complicated, friendship of two extraordinary men - the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. As Lafayette opened doors in Paris and Versailles...

A Brief Treatise on Tomb & Grave Stones of the Eighteenth Century

An introductory guide and study resource for understanding the process of Eighteenth Century Gravestone carving, as well as a primer on identifying carvers of the stones. Includes proper notes for academic study thereon, along with many pictures for...

An Army Doctor’s American Revolutionary War Journal, 1775-1783

At the age of 21, James Thacher (1754–1844) joined the newly formed American army as a surgeon's mate, eventually advancing to the role of surgeon for the Massachusetts 16th Regiment. In 1823, he published his Journal, reporting both wartime events...

The U.S. Constitution and Other Writings

The U.S. Constitution and Other Writings is part of the Leather-bound Classics series and is a collection of the crucial documents, speeches, and other writings that shaped the United States. In addition to the Constitution, readers can review the...

Hidden History of Civil War Williamsburg

Each year, thousands of visitors from around the country visit the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's re-created 18th-century capital of Virginia to learn about the past and walk where the Founding Fathers walked. The fact that the same ground was later...

Marooned: Jamestown, Shipwreck and A New History of America's Origin

In Marooned, Joseph Kelly reexamines the history of Jamestown and comes to a radically different and decidedly American interpretation of these first Virginians. In this gripping account of shipwrecks and mutiny in America's earliest settlements, Kelly...

The Journal of Major George Washington

In 1753, Virginia Governor Dinwiddie appointed 21-year-old Major George Washington to a delicate mission - deliver a letter to the local French commander demanding that he and his forces leave British Territory and bargain for support with the local...

Quest for a Cure

Erected in 1773, burned in 1885, and now reconstructed, the Public Hospital was the first public facility in colonial America built for the treatment of the mentally ill. This highly readable account of Quest for a Cure gives an overview of the attitudes...

I Am Murdered

George Wythe was Thomas Jefferson's mentor and friend, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court—and a victim of lethal poisoning. His murder and the trial of his nephew for the killing caused a sensation...

Rivers and Roads: Transportation in Early America

In an era when no corner of the globe has been left unexplored, and people commute hundreds of miles every day in cars, trains and buses, it's easy to lose track of how different life would be without these modes of transportation. Travel back to a time...

The American Flag: A Handbook of History & Etiquette

A perfect patriotic gift, this handsome guide to the American flag is a concise collection of the history and etiquette of the U.S. flag. The book, bound in hardcover in a distinctive blue leatherette with gold stamping, includes details of the laws...

Thomas Jefferson Art of Power

A No. 1 New York Times Bestseller, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power has been named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and more. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham once...

The Art and Soul of African American Interpretation

The Art and Soul of African American Interpretation is the first book in which African American interpreters themselves reflect on their profession. Six experienced interpreters discuss how they research historical figures and create characters, often...

Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence

The American Revolution was a home-front war that brought scarcity, bloodshed, and danger into the life of every American, and Carol Berkin shows us that women played a vital role throughout the struggle. Berkin takes us into the ordinary moments of...

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Norfolk Naval Shipyard has a long history that predates the United States of America. Founded in 1767 as the Gosport Shipyard, it has been burned and rebuilt three times, once to prevent it from getting into the hands of the newly independent state of...

Yorktown, Virginia: A Brief History

Yorktown's history is often overshadowed by its pivotal role in the Revolutionary War. The site of the British surrender has held several victory commemorations over the past two hundred years. Yorktown also was a thriving colonial port and the site of...

Historic Trades

With more than 90 color photos, this charming hardcover book celebrates Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Trades in vivid detail. Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area is home to the largest, most diverse museum-operated trades program in the world. Here...

Colonial Williamsburg the first 75 years

This book relates the fascinating story of how the Reverend W. A. R. Goodwin and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., went about restoring Virginia's colonial capital. Equally engrossing is the account of how the Williamsburg that visitors see today turned a sleepy...

Physick Medicine in Williamsburg

The professional practice of medicine and the methods used to treat patients in colonial Williamsburg between 1740 and 1775 are thoroughly explained. Topics include medical theory, education, treatments, surgery, and brief biographical sketches of...

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

The United States was more a fragile hope than a reality in 1790. During the decade that followed, the Founding Fathers - reexamined here as Founding Brothers - combined the ideals of the Declaration of Independence with the content of the Constitution...

James Wilson: An Introduction to His Life and Work

James Wilson is one of the lesser known founders, undeservedly so. He was one of only six persons to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Even more importantly, his ideas helped shape both documents and stressed the duty of...

Civil War Williamsburg

Williamsburg is known for its central role in the American Revolution. Less known is that the city also played a role in the Civil War, suffering through a bloody battle on its doorstep and a three-year occupation. Featuring a history of wartime,...

The Duel: The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr

In The Duel: The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, you will learn more about the men who inspired Hamilton: The Musical in this fascinating look at the historical friends turned revolutionary rivals! In curiously parallel lives,...

Selected Works of Alexander Hamilton

The vital words of Alexander Hamilton, including essays, private correspondence, and public statements. Alexander Hamilton is best known as the United States’ first Secretary of the Treasury and the author of the majority of The Federalist Papers, a...

The Idea of America: Our Values, Our Legacy, Our Future

"The Idea of America backs us out of current conflicts and gives insight into the values that have made our country such a shining light to others. Now, more than ever, we need to revisit these values and the tensions they create - and work to fulfill...