Author Nathaniel Philbrick, Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution tells the story of Boston in 1775. It’s an island city occupied by British troops after a series of incendiary incidents by patriots who range from sober citizens to thuggish vigilantes. On April 19, violence erupts at Lexington and Concord.  But it was in June that skirmishes give way to outright war in the Battle of Bunker Hill. It would be the bloodiest battle of the Revolution to come, and the point of no return for the rebellious colonists.

Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It explains how fundamentally good people, with good intentions, have allowed our democracy to be co-opted by outside interests, and how this exploitation has become entrenched in the system. He ultimately calls for widespread mobilization and a new Constitutional Convention, to achieve solutions for regaining control of our corrupted-but redeemable-republic.