New Three-Volume Philadelphia History Book Set From Penn and Rutgers
Authored by More Than 200 Scholars and Richly Illustrated
Five years in the making, a new three-volume book set of Philadelphia history—in the region, the nation, and the world—will be published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in October 2025. More than 200 scholars have contributed articles, some revised and edited from online essays and others written especially for these books. The volumes are richly illustrated in color and black and white, with photographs, maps, and archival images.
The new Penn literary works are published in association with The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, the online resource produced at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers University-Camden.
Each volume spotlights the region with a different lens:
VOLUME 1: THE GREATER PHILADELPHIA REGION – Explores how the term “Greater Philadelphia” came to represent not just a city, but a dynamic region shaped by shared history, infrastructure, and identity across southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and northern Delaware. From early 20th-century department stores to regional planning efforts, this volume delves into the natural boundaries, transportation networks, neighborhoods, and political institutions that connect city and suburbs. The volume includes many pertinent articles, including essays on Gloucester County, the Lenape people, and colonial West New Jersey.
VOLUME 2: GREATER PHILADELPHIA AND THE NATION – Chronicles the region’s vital role in shaping American identity, democracy, and movements for justice across centuries. This volume traverses Greater Philadelphia’s revolutionary origins and Civil War divisions through the fight for woman suffrage, the civil rights and Black Power movements, and more recent moments like the AIDS activism of the 1980s and Occupy Philadelphia. The volume discusses historical developments in southern New Jersey, including the Battle of Red Bank during the American Revolution, abolition and the Underground Railroad, and free Black communities.
VOLUME 3: GREATER PHILADELPHIA AND THE WORLD – Reveals how Greater Philadelphia has long been a crossroads of global forces, shaped by waves of migration, transatlantic commerce, and international conflict. From its colonial roots in the British Empire to its rise as an industrial powerhouse and cultural beacon, this volume traces how the region welcomed immigrants from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas; became a center of world religions; and responded to global challenges from cholera to COVID-19. It highlights the region’s impact on international labor, education, and peace movements, as well as its role in military conflicts at home and abroad.
A 20% discount code is available for copies ordered directly from the University of Pennsylvania Press: GREATERPHILLY20. This brings the regular price of $125.00 for the 3-volume gift set to $100. The regular price of $49.95 for each separate volume is $39.96 with the discount code.
