The Library of America has published over the years several volumes on the American Revolution. These books include the writings of the founders, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, Marshall, among others, a book of source material on the Revolutionary War, a two-volume set on the ratification debate on the constitution, a book of 17th and 18th century American poetry, and more. These books offer many readers accessible documentation of a formative portion of the American experience.

The Library of America continues its exploration of revolutionary America with this new two-volume set, "The American Revolution: Writings from the Pamphlet Debate, 1764 -- 1776". Gordon Wood, the renowned scholar of the American Revolution, selected the texts and wrote the extensive supporting material. Wood also prepared the earlier two-volume Library of America set of the writings of John Adams. The publication of this new set was timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Parliament's promulgation of the Stamp Act in 1765, which set in motion the events leading to the American Revolution.

Many readers will know about Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet, "Common Sense", one of the key documents of the Revolution. "Common Sense" is included late in the second volume of the collection. But the writing of pamphlets -- short, inexpensive booklets ranging from ten to a hundred pages -- was an important source for the development and exchange of opinions during the Revolutionary Era. Between 1764 and 1776 over 1000 pamphlets were written on both sides of the Atlantic on the developing conflict between Britain and America.