Favorite Reader Essays of 2025

Every so often, we poll our readers to find out which were their favorite essays from the year before. The results are always fascinating, and often unexpected.

Below are the favorite American Heritage essays of 2025 according to our latest survey. Take a look at the list, and feel free to email us with your own nominations or suggestions at editor@americanheritage.com.

--The Editors

1. The Shots Heard Round the World

By John Ferling, Spring 2025, Volume 70, Issue 2

What began as a civil war within the British Empire continued until it became a wider conflict affecting peoples and countries across Europe and North America.

2. Discovered: First Maps of the American Revolution 

By Edwin S. Grosvenor, Spring 2025, Volume 70, Issue 2

Previously unknown, a map drawn by Lord Percy, the British commander at Lexington, sheds new light on the perilous retreat to Boston 250 years ago this month.

3. “Shall We Have a King?”

By William E. Leuchtenburg, Fall 2025, Volume 70, Issue 4

Some delegates at the Constitutional Convention wanted a strong executive, while others feared the American president might become a king.

4. The Birth of Birthright Citizenship

By Joseph Connor, Fall 2025, Volume 70, Issue 4

A Chinatown cook's fight to re-enter the U.S. in 1895 went up to the Supreme Court, which upheld his claim to birthright citizenship and guaranteed it for all through the 14th Amendment.

5. Finding the Real Jamestown

By William M. Kelso, Winter 2008,Summer 2025, Volume 70, Issue 1

The archaeologist who discovered the real Jamestown debunks myths, and answers age-old mysteries about North America's first successful English colony.

6. The Forgotten Battle of Menotomy

By Michael Ruderman, Spring 2025, Volume 70, Issue 2

Overshadowed in memory by Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts town of Menotomy saw the most violent and deadly fighting on April 19, 1775.

7. Eisenhower’s “Middle Way”

By Steven Wagner, Winter 2025, Volume 70, Issue 1

As president, Dwight D. Eisenhower took a moderate position on many issues, believing that “good judgment seeks balance and progress.”

8. Limits on Presidential Power from FDR to Trump

By Todd Belt, Winter 2025, Volume 70, Issue 1

What does history tell us about presidents who have tried to push the limits of the system?

9. Introduction: Revisiting Concord and Lexington

By Edwin S. Grosvenor, Spring 2025, Volume 70, Issue 2

This special issue looks at the dramatic and momentous events that occurred 250 years ago this month.

10. Knox Brings Cannon and Victory to General Washington

By Edwin S. Grosvenor, Fall 2025, Volume 70, Issue 4

Setting out 250 years ago this month, Henry Knox’s “Noble Train” carried 60 tons of desperately needed artillery to help patriots oust British forces from Boston.

11. Important Early Maps of America

By Edwin S. Grosvenor, Fall 2025, Volume 70, Issue 4

In the Age of Discovery, maps held closely guarded secrets for the kings, adventurers, and merchants who first acquired them.

12. Drama at the Old North Bridge

By Rick Atkinson, Spring 2025, Volume 70, Issue 2

“Now the war has begun and no one knows when it will end,” said one minuteman after the fight.

13. Lincoln As Commander in Chief

By James M. McPherson, Winter 2009, Summer 2025, Volume 70, Issue 6

Even though he had no military training, Lincoln quickly rose to become one of America’s most talented commanders.

14. Mayflower's Place in History

By Nathaniel Philbrick, October 2020,Summer 2025, Volume 70, Issue 6

The story of the Pilgrims’ journey in 1620, and the voyage of Mayflower II in 1957, are still sources of inspiration today.

15. The South’s Inner Civil War

By Eric Foner, March 1989,Summer 2025, Volume 70, Issue 2

The more fiercely the Confederacy fought for its independence, the more bitterly divided it became. To fully understand the vast changes which the war unleashed on the country, you must first understand the plight of the Southerners who didn’t want secession.

16. A Fateful Friendship: Patton and Ike

By Stephen E. Ambrose, April 1969,Summer 2025, Volume 70, Issue 3

Eisenhower dreamed of serving under Patton, but history reversed their roles. Their stormy association dramatically shaped the Allied assault on the Third Reich.

17. The Most Misunderstood Americans

By John F. Kennedy, Summer 2025, Volume 70, Issue 3

President Kennedy wrote for American Heritage that it’s important to remember the contributions of Native Americans, as well as their mistreatment.

18. Tecumseh and The Prophet at Tippecanoe

By Peter Cozzens, Winter 2021,Summer 2025, Volume 70, Issue 1

While his brother Tecumseh was assembling the greatest Indian confederation the United States army would ever confront, the “Prophet” launched a fateful preemptive attack in Indiana Territory in 1811.

19. Renewing America’s Civic Education

By Brook Manville, Winter 2025, Volume 70, Issue 1

Although numerous studies show a failure in the teaching of our history and values of democracy, there are models to rebuild the civic bargains by which democracy survives.

20. The Miracle On Missionary Ridge

By Bruce Catton, February 1969,Summer 2025, Volume 70, Issue 2

The Union stood in danger of losing an entire army at Chattanooga. Then U. S. Grant arrived, and directed the most dramatic battle of the Civil War.