A specialist in the history of the American Revolution and the early United States, he is the author or editor of twelve books, including: A Revolutionary Friendship: Washington, Jefferson and the American Republic (2024); finalist for the 2025 George Washington Book Prize), Emperor of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson’s Foreign Policy (2014), The Blackwell Companion to Jefferson (2012), Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy (2006). His Revolutionary America, 1763-1815: A Political History is now in its fourth edition.

His most recent book (with Peter S. Onuf) Thomas Jefferson Survives: American Independence in His Time and Ours was published by Liveright Press in June, 2026. He is the editor of The American Revolution at 250: Twenty-Four Historians Reflect on the Founding which was published by the University of Virginia Press in April, 2026.

Along with Patrick Griffin, Christa Dierksheide and Eliga Gould he edits the Revolutionary Age series for the University of Virginia Press.

Frank is committed to engaging a wide audience with the study of history. For many years he was a workshop leader for school teachers, and co-hosts the American history podcast The Whiskey Rebellion.

Frank is the president of the Open History Society in Edinburgh. He makes regular media appearances, commenting on U.S. history, politics and international relations, for the BBC and other outlets. He has featured in five episodes of the BBC’s flagship In Our Time, as well as BBC Radio 4’s You’re Dead to Me. Frank was the historical consultant for Glass Entertainment’s 6-part documentary Thomas Jefferson, which aired on the History Channel in the US and Internationally in 2025. He also served as the historical consultant for a 2-part documentary on the American Revolution which aired in the BBC’s Lucy Worsley investigates series, in 2026.

During July – Dec 2026, Frank will be in residence at The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, VA as the recipient of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Senior Fellowship in Political History, the Presidency, and Constitutional Thought