The Founders
Revered by many, reviled by some, the Founders remain a touchstone for contested ideas about who Americans are as a people and what the American experiment in self-government means today. Their brilliant writings continue to fascinate and inspire, revealing a complexity and dynamism that belies our tendency to want to fix them, and the republic they built, in stone.
These four critically acclaimed volumes have been reissued with newly redesigned jackets and can be purchased as a set at 35% off the list price:
The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence 1775–1783
John Rhodehamel, editor
Drawn from letters, diaries, newspaper articles, public documents, contemporary narratives, and private memoranda, The American Revolution brings together over 120 pieces by more than seventy participants—American and British, Patriot and Loyalist, military and civilian—to create a unique literary panorama of the War of Independence. Beginning with Paul Revere’s ride in April 1775 and ending with George Washington’s return to private life in December 1783, the volume contains writers, both famous and obscure, describing the most dramatic events of the conflict that created America: the early battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill; the failed invasion of Canada; the 1776 campaign in New York and New Jersey; the crucial battle of Saratoga; the cold and hunger of Valley Forge; the bitter fighting in the South and along the western frontier; the treachery of Benedict Arnold; and the final decisive triumph at Yorktown.
George Washington: Writings
John Rhodehamel, editor
For two and a half centuries, George Washington has stood “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” universally acknowledged as the one indispensable founder of the American republic. This Library of America volume—the most extensive and authoritative one-volume collection ever published—covers five decades of Washington’s astonishingly active life and brings together more than 440 letters, orders, addresses, and other writings.
Thomas Jefferson: Writings
Merrill D. Peterson, editor
The most comprehensive single-volume selection ever published of the writings of the third president of the United States and the young nation’s foremost spokesman for democracy. “The lucid and elegantly phrased prose in these pages is the reflection of a sophisticated and well-read man. The energy of his convictions enlivens for contemporary readers many of the debates central to the founding of the United States. . . . Dipping into this collection of public and private writings, the reader derives an extraordinary intimacy with Jefferson.” — Los Angeles Herald Examiner
James Madison: Writings
Jack N. Rakove, editor
James Madison remains the most important political thinker in American history. Arranged chronologically, this Library of America volume contains 197 essays, addresses, speeches, private memoranda, and letters written between 1772 and 1836. Included are all 29 of Madison’s contributions to The Federalist, as well as revealing letters and speeches from the Constitutional Convention, the crucial Virginia ratifying convention, and the first federal Congress that illuminate his central role in framing and ratifying the Constitution and adopting the Bill of Rights.
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