Books published by University of Pennsylvania Press

In this first full biography of Philip Vickers Fithian, John Fea tells the story of how one young man sought to pursue the life of an eighteenth-century Presbyterian gentleman while continuing to yearn for the everyday passions that defined what it meant for him to be human.

Fire in My Bones contributes to our understanding of gospel-and of the nature of religious experience in general.

Liam Riordan explores how the American Revolution politicized religious, racial, and ethnic identity among the diverse inhabitants of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey from 1770 to 1830.

This book examines how ordinary families and communities of minority groups in Sri Lanka have dealt with prolonged civil war and resulting issues as diverse as child recruitment, generational and gender conflicts, political terror, refugee camp life, ethnic nationalism, and migration and mobility.

Prior to the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1897, travelers returned from Alaska's Inside Passage with fascinating accounts of its wonders. Historian Robert Campbell demonstrates how these tourists served as shock troops of the gold rush by portraying Alaska as a "Last West" ripe for American conquest.

Pamela Regis argues that the romance novel, the most popular but least respected of literary genres, does not enslave women but celebrates their freedom and joy. Regis provides critics with an expanded vocabulary for discussing a genre that is both classic and contemporary, sexy and entertaining.

Translated from the French and revised and expanded by the author, the book provides a rich and detailed account of all facets of Lavoisier's extraordinary career.

Ranging from Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania to the backcountry regions of the South, the Mid-Atlantic, and northern New England, The Varieties of Political Experience in Eighteenth-Century America offers an ambitious overview of political life in pre-Revolutionary America.

Building on the author's thirty-six years of experience with North Town, Texas, this second edition presents an ethnographic study of the ways the town's youth learn traditional American values through participation in sports, membership in formal and informal social groups, dating, and interactions with teachers in the classroom.

"American Capitalism is an important contribution to our understanding of postwar American thought and culture. It will force historians to revise their pantheon of important thinkers for the period."-George Cotkin, author of Existential America