The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 (Revolution Trilogy, 2) Hardcover – April 29, 2025

A first-rate history of the middle years of the Revolutionary War. Superbly researched and written. An instant classic, a must read.

This is volume 2 of a planned trilogy. If you haven't done so, read "The British Are Coming" first.This book is not an academic treatise. It is for those who want to get down in the blood and bone and smoke and noise. No one brings warfare to life as vividly as Atkinson. At intervals, he raises his head above the fray and gives the big-picture context. So even though the detail is staggering, you are never lost, never bored. The colored plates and the maps are copious and superbly illuminating.This book is also for those who find high drama in the life portraits and thoughts and movements of a couple of hundred of the protagonists. It is for those who have been saturated with myth about the glorious Revolutionary War. That war was, in fact, tragic, grubby, savage, and venal. It was also, often, noble, brave, and illustrious.

Excellent book. Very readable and filled with interesting insights and little known details that make history fun. Personally, I don’t see how anyone survived these battles. The wounded sound like they should have been finished off rather than chopped up by the doctors. The MAPS ARE WONDERFUL. Among the best I’ve seen. They are needed because the descriptions of any battle are hard to follow, and these battles are no different. With the maps you can add to your understanding of the events. The discussions of British and American strategies are excellent. Highly recommended.

this book is worth a read such wonderful story and the author is a great story teller , goes into so much detail that brings the whole thing alive

In and of itself, “The Fate of the Day” is a masterpiece within a trilogy masterpiece. If you enjoy historical storytelling, you’ll find it here at its finest, as usual with a work by Rick Atkinson. There’s never a dull moment as the author changes perspectives: close-ups to 30K feet, shifts from main actor to supporter, and insightful general assessments to fascinating particulars. The intriguing mix yields over 600 pages of sustained interest, not counting the 200+ pages of images and extensive documented research. Amazing for a work this long!Of the things I liked about the book, I especially liked the chapter about the Battle of Fort Mercer and its thrilling, unexpected, and personally gratifying combat scenes. Additionally, I appreciated the author’s inclusion of the most recent research and thoughts on Benedict Arnold, particularly his actions at Saratoga. As well, I somewhat grudgingly respect Atkinson’s challenge to increase my vocabulary by liberally sprinkling abstruse words throughout the book.I do have a couple of very minor issues with the book. First, Atkinson seems to favor the common distance description of 3,000 miles separating England from her American colonies. However, that distance is more accurate in terms of nautical miles, not statute miles in which most people think. For every nautical mile, there are 1.151 statute miles. Therefore, while the round-down distance between England and America is 3,000 nautical miles, the round-up distance between England and America is 4,000 statute miles. Try this on Google Earth from various places in England and America. As well, these miles are usually as the crow flies, not as the ship sails, where every so often the ship has to tack to better catch the wind, especially when sailing into the wind. A general rule of thumb is that tacking adds between 1.3 and 1.5 times the straight-line distance travelled. So even by fair-weather reckoning, it’s best to think of the distance separating England from America as 4,000 miles. In terms of time, the journey from America to England (with the clockwise Gulfstream current) typically took 1 month or 4 weeks; from England to America (direct-path against the Gulfstream), the time was usually 6 weeks; double this or more if bad weather. A modern-day parallel is that even on roads, one doesn’t drive as the crow flies, but as the road is laid and the traffic negotiated.Second, Atkinson does not to any extent cover New Jersey’s Middlebrook Encampment, where I would argue that Washington won his war. The cat and mouse game Washington played there with Howe forced Howe to take his army not by land but by sea to capture Philadelphia, delaying him enough so that he couldn’t support Burgoyne and avoid the major turning point of the war, the British surrender at Saratoga.Third, the location and timeframe (month/year) of each chapter are included as a smaller-font subtitle. Unfortunately, at least for me, one can easily forget which year events occurred, even when the day and month are specified in that chapter’s narrative.Bottom-line, though, this book about America’s fight for freedom is a true gem from a master of his craft. Outstanding and highly recommended!Of possible interest: a book that compares Washington and Lafayette’s dramatically differing results in their fight for freedom for their own countries, America and France: George Washington's Liberty Key: Mount Vernon's Bastille Key – the Mystery and Magic of Its Body, Mind, and Soul

Fascinating narrative! Have learned more about the American Revolution and the founding of our GREAT NATION in the first 200 pages than I did throughout all my school years. Rick Atkinson is a fantastic author!

I know a lot about American History. After a while, it can get old. Along comes Rick with a couple of new items on every page that I didn't know, but I look forward to learning about them. He can not only research, but also put pen to paper; no other historian can match his creative writing style. The problem of the Revolutionary War is that G.W. kept losing, and then, in the end, winning. To keep the reader's interest takes a lot of talent, which Rick has in spades. The books are worth reading even if you are not that much interested in the subject, as they read much like a novel that you just can't put down. He is a National Treasure. Highest recommendation.

The most readable and satisfying history of the Revolution in print. Detailed, footnoted, yet entertaining . A must read for the American History lover. Don't be misled by the length..... 60% of the book is pictures and footnotes.