Rick Atkinson

Author Rick Atkinson can hang his hat on another work of history that does the times and events justice. "The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777" volume one of a three volume series presents us and even-handed look at the Revolutionary War from not just the American perspective, but also the British side of things which does not happen as often as we should wish. From the preamble through the battles of Trenton and Princeton in the winter of 1777.
Atkinson does a good job laying things out for the reader/listener, he uses many different primary sources and weaves the tale alternating between the American and the British side of things fluidly.
The issues that I had with this title are personal in nature. The reader, George Newbern, can read words splendidly, but reading them in a captivating and dramatic fashion do not seem to be his strong suit. Atkinson's writing is more scholarly in nature than popular which can make the writing and listening more difficult to really get into. Everything just seemed real stiff, which doesn't make it bad, it just makes it not great...
Will I read/listen to the next two volumes when they come out? Boy that is the ultimate question when finishing the a first volume. Was it good enough to keep you into it. Well, as I said earlier, it did the events and time justice, did it do it well enough to get me to come back to the table for more. I think so. Would I recommend it to others? I would recommend it, but only to those who have an affinity for the American revolutionary war or those hardcore history people. I give it a three star rating.… (more)

The author's industry and interests have produced a remarkable history, just as it did in his Liberation Trilogy, in this first volume of a planned three-volume history of the Revolutionary war. I have read other histories of this war, but Atkinson's concerns including, for example, the rebel's difficulty in acquiring gun powder, the effect of smallpox, the absence of appropriate clothing and footwear, the changing affiliations of the citizenry, and the British difficulties of feeding thousands of troops with a supply chain across the Atlantic, all have resulted in an absorbing history that is unusually good at providing the reader with an immediate experience.… (more)