The Fate of the Day

Praise

“Rick Atkinson takes his place among the greatest of all historians. This superb second volume in his Revolution Trilogy is that rare narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Familiar characters become dimensional and complicated, new ones burst to life vividly, and the battles and struggles that created our country now have clarity and meaning.”—Ken Burns

“This is great history. . . . We witness Washington mature as a commander; we come to understand why Arnold sells his allegiance; and we recognize King George’s quandary as his generals repeatedly fail to draw this ruinously expensive conflict to an end. . . . Compulsively readable . . . there is no better writer of narrative history than the Pulitzer Prize–winning Atkinson.”—The New York Times

“Varying his focus to capture compelling personalities and episodes along with the wider picture, Mr. Atkinson sustains dramatic tension in a detailed, comprehensive account of the Revolution’s pivotal middle years. . . . He deftly sketches personalities and incidents while stressing the uncertainty all those involved felt about the outcome.”—The Wall Street Journal

“As with its predecessor, The Fate of the Day contains those intimate details of conflicts that provide the reader a keen sense of the chaos and terror with which eighteenth-century battles were conducted. . . . Given the depth of research, deliberation in judgment, and painstaking attention to crafting a compelling, clear narrative, this volume is worth reading with the same care as it was written.”—Journal of the American Revolution

“A riveting narrative . . . meticulously researched and marvelously told . . . The Fate of The Day is a triumph of narrative history and cements Atkinson’s place among America’s finest popular historians.”—ARMY Magazine

“[Atkinson] has the journalist’s stylistic flair but a stupendous appetite for research that would put many a gray-haired Ph.D. to shame. Even more, he has an admirable reserve of judgment which prevents him from rushing too far, too fast. . . . [He has] a canny eye for the flow of politics and political personalities, whether in Philadelphia, London, or Versailles. . . . The result, in The Fate of the Day, is a massive, and massively enjoyable, excursion into the embattled history of the American republic, its imperial British enemy, and its opportunistic ally, France.”—Allen C. Guelzo, The Washington Free Beacon

“To read this book by prolific military historian Atkinson is to see the Revolutionary War as both a civil war—loyalists against rebels, with a sizable number of uncommitted colonists in between—and an international war involving numerous European powers. . . . As ever with Atkinson, an exemplary work of narrative history.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Epic in scale but rich in detail, this captures the drama and world-historical significance of the revolution.”—Publishers Weekly

“A riveting narrative covering the middle years of the American Revolution . . . For readers of American history, this is a must-have volume to complete an already vast library covering the fight for democracy some 250 years in the past.”—Booklist