Date: 23 November 2025
Location: Linda B
About a dozen Bookers met at Linda’s to discuss Rick Atkinson’s The British Are Coming, the first volume in Atkinson’s Revolution Trilogy.
We actually scheduled our book discussion to coincide with Ken Burns’ wonderful series, The American Revolution, on PBS. Atkinson, of course, was a main contributor in the series, providing detailed information about many of the major battles.
The British Are Coming basically begins with with the run-up to the start of the conflict at Lexington and Concord and ends two years later following the battle at Princeton. The book contains a great deal of information with many fine details, not only about the different battles but also about the individual participants – both in the colonies and in England – including King George.
Much of the work focuses on George Washington of course. As a new general, he made a number of major mistakes but was able to to preserve his army in spite of his errors. He had to deal with enormous supply problems and continuing manpower shortages, with large numbers of soldiers leaving after their enlistment times were up. However, Washington realized that to be successful, he did not actually have to beat the far superior British army – rather he just had not to lose. Nevertheless, it was a close call at times, and it is really sort of amazing that we did survive the conflict.
Only a few Bookers actually finished the entire book, mainly because of its length, but we all appreciated Atkinson’s research and writing skills. He explained a lot about the battles and events in the early years of the war that most of us had only vague ideas about. For example, I knew very little about our invasion of Canada and the debacle that resulted. Also, he gave us a different understanding of Benedict Arnold, who early in the war was considered one of the bravest and most capable of Washington’s officers.
The second book in Atkinson’s Revolution Trilogy, published in April 2025, is entitled, The Fate of the Day, which continues the story through the capture of Charleston SC by the British in 1780. So it appears to take Atkinson about five years to complete each volume. I hope to live long enough to read the final volume in his trilogy and learn how things turned out.
— Bob