New book series tells untold history of greater Philadelphia region as prologue to America’s 250th birthday

A three-volume book series published Tuesday by the University of Pennsylvania Press is retelling the history of the Delaware Valley and celebrating Philadelphia’s role in the founding of the nation ahead of the United States’s 250th birthday in 2026.

The trilogy, “Greater Philadelphia: A New History for the Twenty-First Century,” dives into the stories known and untold, from Philadelphia’s revolutionary origins to the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, from the Liberty Bell to labor strikes and even touches on popular culture like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

The series is more than 1,000 pages, broken down into three volumes: “The Greater Philadelphia Region,” “Greater Philadelphia and the Nation” and “Greater Philadelphia and the World.”

“We set out to create something both timely and timeless, a resource that people can turn to now as we prepare for the 250th, and one that will endure for generations to come,” Charlene Mires, co-editor of the project and Rutgers University professor emerita of history, said in a press release. “This is more than a history of a city; it’s a story of how Greater Philadelphia helped shape the world.”

The first volume chronicles how the Greater Philadelphia region came to embody not just the city but its surrounding suburbs, South Jersey and parts of Delaware. The book explores how rivers, roads and rail lines help connect the city to the surrounding suburbs, covering everything from early 20th-century department stores to transportation networks, neighborhoods and more.

“Greater Philadelphia and the Nation,” the second book of the series, takes a closer look at Philly’s role in the American Revolution, shaping the national identity and justice movements across centuries, from Civil Rights to the Black Lives Matter movement, and more. The second volume could pair well for history buffs with iconic filmmaker Ken Burns’ new documentary, “The American Revolution,” debuting on PBS on Nov. 16.

The third volume, “Greater Philadelphia and the World,” zooms out to look at how the city has helped shape the world, from its colonial roots to women’s suffrage to the Civil Rights movement and, more recently, its AIDS activism in the 1980s. It also covers how Philly has welcomed immigrants through the years and examines its responses to global challenges such as COVID-19.

Readers can buy the series as a three-volume set or individually online.

Penn Press published the project in partnership with the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.