British Are Coming

‘To say that Atkinson can tell a story is like saying Sinatra can sing … A powerful new voice has been added to the dialogue about [America’s] origins as a people and a nation. It is difficult to imagine any reader putting this beguiling book down without a smile and a tear.’ New York Times

Reviews

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Winner of the George Washington Prize 2020
‘Atkinson is a superb researcher, but more importantly a sublime writer. On occasion I reread sentences simply to feast on their elegance … This is volume one of a planned trilogy. Atkinson will be a superb guide through the terrible years of killing ahead.’ The Times 
‘A sweeping narrative which captures the spirit and the savagery of the times. Based on exhaustive research on both sides of the Atlantic, Atkinson displays a mastery of the English language as well as military tactics which puts him in a class of his own as a writer.’ Lionel Barber, Financial Times
‘To say that Atkinson can tell a story is like saying Sinatra can sing … Historians of the American Revolution take note. Atkinson is coming.’ New York Times Book Review
‘Chock full of momentous events and larger-than-life characters. Perfect material for a storyteller as masterly as Mr. Atkinson … On center stage are the battlefields, [which] are documented in stellar prose and 24 exquisite maps … The narrative is the stuff of novels, [but] Mr. Atkinson’s facts are drawn from a wealth of manuscript and printed sources. He quotes aptly and with acumen.’ Wall Street Journal
‘[Atkinson has a] felicity for turning history into literature … The more that Americans are reminded by Atkinson and other supreme practitioners of the historians’ craft that their nation was not made by flimsy people, the less likely it is to be flimsy’ Washington Post
‘Wastes no time reminding us of his considerable narrative talents … His knowledge of military affairs shines in his reading of the sources … For sheer dramatic intensity … all told in a way equally deeply informed about British planning and responses, there are few better places to turn’ Washington Post