The National Road by Brady J. Crytzer - ISBN: 9781635769494
Hardcover
America’s first highway: ambition, action, and the making of a nation.

The National Road

George Washington and America's First Highway West

$59.75

  • Hardcover

    368 pages

  • Release Date

    16 June 2026

Check Delivery Options

Summary

Upon America’s 250th anniversary comes the story of a new republic forging unity through ambition and action, inspired by George Washington’s youthful dream to build the nation’s first highway west

The National Road is the first narrative history of the federal project—begun decades before the nation itself was born and ranging through the 1830s—that connected the United States across the Alleghenies and into the western frontier. Starting with a young Washin…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781635769494
ISBN-10:1635769493
Author:Brady J. Crytzer
Publisher:Diversion Books
Imprint:Diversion Books
Format:Hardcover
Number of Pages:368
Release Date:16 June 2026
Weight:526g
Dimensions:33mm x 152mm x 229mm
A-Format
B-Format
The National Road by Brady J. Crytzer - ISBN: 9781635769494
152 × 229 mm
C-Format
A4
mm / in
What They're Saying

Critics Review

For The National Road

“Mr. Crytzer’s narrative hums along with the National Road’s traffic … as migrants wend westward, fueling the nation’s economic and territorial growth. He vividly captures the culture that sprang up along the road—taverns, trade, folklore, and industry—while paying fitting tribute to commerce as the glue of national unity.”
Wall Street Journal

“America’s first great national project… . A fine reminder that a revolution first united our nation, but roads kept it united.”
Kirkus Reviews

“Brady Crytzer’s scholarship and storytelling skills have restored the National Road’s significance for the early American republic and for our own time. Through his engaging portraits of George Washington, Albert Gallatin, and Henry Clay, he captures key debates over the federal government’s role in infrastructure and the National Road’s crucial role in America’s westward expansion.”
David L. Preston, The Citadel, Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize-winning author of Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution

“The vivid, compelling, and rarely-researched story of our first national highway. Full of captivating detail and astounding twists and turns, Crytzer’s The National Road recounts how a revolving roster of American stalwarts—Washington, Jefferson, Albert Gallatin, Henry Clay—managed to conceive and establish this essential artery for western expansion.”
Tom McMillan, author of The Year That Made America: From Rebellion to Independence, 1775–1776

“With The National Road, Brady Crytzer builds upon his impressive record as a chronicler of the young and bustling American republic. This dynamic narrative explores a century-long journey of ambition, danger, and speculation across the generations. A lively blend of political history and backcountry adventure.”
Jared Frederick, author of Fierce Valor: The True Story of Ronald Speirs and His Band of Brothers

For The Whiskey Rebellion

“[A] vivid account of what contemporaries called “the Western Insurrection,” … Crytzer grounds his engaging narrative upon intimate knowledge of the landscape where events unfolded, identifying locations linked with the insurgents and the troops sent against them.”
Wall Street Journal

“[A] fast-paced narrative of the Whiskey Rebellion… . Crytzer offers abundant fresh insight into what was arguably the greatest crisis of George Washington’s presidency.”
—Woody Holton, author of Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution

“By tracing the history of the ‘Whiskey Rebellion’ … Crytzer gives us a layered view of our landscape and also of the ongoing, evolving, and very American contention between federal and populist power.”
Daniel Bullen, author of Daniel Shays’s Honorable Rebellion: An American Story

About The Author

Brady J. Crytzer

Brady J. Crytzer is a historian of the American frontier and the award-winning author of The Whiskey Rebellion, Guyasuta and the Fall of Indian America, and Hessians: Mercenaries, Rebels, and the War for British North America. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Journal of the American Revolution. He is the host of the acclaimed podcast Dispatches, and he appears regularly on the cable series Into the Wild Frontier and Outlaws and Lawmen, as well as Fox Nation’s new series, Blood On The Bridge: The Battle of Lexington & Concord. He teaches at Robert Morris University.

Returns

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.