Best Books on the American Revolution in 2023

After reading my 2023 American Revolution Scholarship in Review published earlier this month, a subscriber asked me which of the new works are my top-rated volumes, so here goes….

With the caveat that I did not read all fifty-four Revolutionary Era books published in 2023, I’ve selected three non-fiction books that are my top recommendations in three categories: fascinating storytelling, impressive research, and influential new insights.

• Brooke Barbier authored the first biography of John Hancock in over twenty years. Her work, King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founder, represents the best storytelling and presents the most explicit thesis among this year’s books.
• Benjamin L. Carp’s The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution is most notable for its meticulous research over the last twenty years. His participant voices from numerous archives give readers a bird’s eye view of the fire’s destruction.
• Brady Crytzer’s The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis provides a fresh look at a previously well-documented Western Pennsylvania revolt over taxes and federal control. As a Western Pennsylvania resident, Crytzer adds insights gained from his knowledge of local culture and geographies, providing insights that resonate today.

While many other 2023 books add to our understanding of the War for Independence, these three volumes stand out for their unique, eminently readable contributions to our understanding of the Revolutionary Era.