In early 1776, Thomas Paine, an obscure immigrant to Colonial America published a pamphlet entitled Common Sense. The initial printing of 120,000 copies sold within three months, making Paine’s treatise the best-selling printed work in American history to that time.
Paine drew his pamphlet’s title from the expression, “common sense,” which Merriam–Webster defines as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” He made his case that it was common sense for the American colonies to break away from British rule and strike out on their own—together.
Between now and July 4, 2026, as Utahns and Americans approach the 250th anniversary of both Common Sense, a catalyst for revolution, and the Declaration of Independence itself, CCS offers its Commonsense Reading List in partnership with America250 Utah to bring greater understanding of the many influences that forged the Founding of the United States of America.
On this list are books about people, events, and ideas that shaped our fledgling nation in some way. Each has been recommended by a scholar, teacher, or student at the Center for Constitutional Studies.
Please feel no obligation to tackle all of these titles. We offer the list—which will grow over time, so check back regularly—as a tool to broaden your knowledge of those pivotal years that helped our nation begin and continue to become "a more perfect union."
Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different
Gordon Wood
John Jay – Founding Father
Walter Stahr
Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the fate of the American Revolution
Nathaniel Philbrick
Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
Gordon Wood
The Life of George Washington
John Marshall, edited by Robert K. Faulkner and Paul Carrese
Alexander Hamilton: American
Richard Brookhiser
Gouverneur Morris: An Independent Life
William Howard Adams
Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence
Joseph Ellis
Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution
Nathaniel Philbrick
1776
David McCullough
American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic
Joseph Ellis
The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents
Joseph Ellis
Land of Hope: Invitation to the Great American Story
Wilfred M. McClay
Shots Heard Round the World: America, Britain, and Europe in the Revolutionary War
John Ferling
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777 (The Revolution Trilogy, Volume 1)
Rick Atkinson
The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777–1780 (Revolution Trilogy, Volume 2)
Rick Atkinson
The Birth of the Republic, 1763–89 (Fourth Edition)
Edmund S. Morgan
Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution
Gordon Wood
American Virtues: Thomas Jefferson on the Character of a Free People
Jean Yarbrough
Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality
Danielle Allen
American Scripture: The Making of the Declaration of Independence,
Pauline Maier
The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political
Carl Lotus Becker
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