Rick Atkinson
Rick Atkinson is the bestselling author of the Liberation Trilogy–An Army at Dawn (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History), The Day of Battle, and The Guns at Last Light–as well as The Long Gray Line and other books. His many additional awards include a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, a George Polk Award, and the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award. A former staff writer and senior editor at The Washington Post, he lives in Washington, D.C.
All Books By Rick Atkinson
An Army at Dawn
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Rick Atkinson
- Length: 7 hours 3 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2002
- Language: English
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4.28(16420 ratings)
In the first volume of a remarkable trilogy, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson provides the definitive history of the war in North Africa.
The liberation of Europe and the destruction of the Third Reich is an epic story of courage and calamity, of miscalculation and enduring triumph. An Army at Dawn begins on the eve of Operation TORCH, the daring amphibious invasion of Morocco and Algeria. After three days of hard fighting against the French, American and British troops push deeper into North Africa.
But the confidence gained after several early victories soon wanes; casualties mount rapidly; battle plans prove ineffectual, and hope for a quick and decisive victory evaporates. The Allies discover that they are woefully unprepared to fight and win this war. North Africa becomes a proving ground: it is here that American officers learn how to lead, here that soldiers learn how to hate, here that an entire army learns what it will take to vanquish a formidable enemy. Many great battle captains emerged in North Africa, including Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and Montgomery. Atkinson brings these commanders vividly to life. He takes us to the front lines of every major battle — from Oran to Kasserine to Tunis. In North Africa, the Allied coalition came into its own, the enemy forever lost the initiative, and the United States — for the first time — began to act like a great power.
Atkinson casts a clear eye on the dark tragedies that haunt every war. The first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, An Army At Dawn is history of the highest order — brilliantly researched, rich with new material and surprising insights, the deeply human story of a monumental battle for the future of civilization.
An Army at Dawn
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: George Guidall
- Length: 26 hours 5 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2013
- Language: English
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4.28(16420 ratings)
Beginning the trilogy that continues with The Day of Battle, An Army at Dawn opens on the eve of Operation TORCH, the daring amphibious invasion of Morocco and Algeria. After three days of hard fighting against the French, American and British troops push deeper into North Africa.
But the confidence gained after several early victories soon wanes; casualties mount rapidly, battle plans prove ineffectual, and hope for a quick and decisive victory evaporates. The Allies discover that they are woefully unprepared to fight and win this war. North Africa becomes a proving ground: it is here that American officers learn how to lead, here that soldiers learn how to hate, here that an entire army learns what it will take to vanquish a formidable enemy. In North Africa, the Allied coalition came into its own, the enemy forever lost the initiative, and the United States — for the first time — began to act like a great power.
Battle of the Bulge [The Young Readers Adaptation]
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Jason Culp
- Length: 3 hours 48 minutes
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Publish date: June 30, 2015
- Language: English
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3.86(112 ratings)
On the 16th of December, 1944, in the frozen forests of the Ardennes, the German army attacked American Allied forces, launching a final bid to turn the tide of World War II. Thus began the long, hard slog of a battle that was nicknamed by the media as the Battle of the Bulge. Lasting more than a month, it led to tens of thousands of casualties. Sir Winston Churchill called it “the greatest American battle of the war and . . . an ever-famous American victory.” Atkinson skillfully guides his audience through the attacks and counterattacks, the advances and retreats of this terrible bloodbath. Whether history buffs or newcomers to the topic, young readers will appreciate the author’s clear and accessible prose, as well as the many fascinating facts, photographs, and statistics.
A historical exploration of World War II’s Battle of the Bulge from Pulitzer Prize–winner and New York Times-bestselling author Rick Atkinson.
This thoroughly-researched and documented book can be worked into multiple aspects of the common core curriculum.
... Read moreCrusade
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 24 hours 31 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2011
- Language: English
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4.1(750 ratings)
Throughout the Gulf War of 1991, unprecedented restrictions on the media’s access to the battlefield kept the true story of that brief, brutal conflict from being told. Now, after two years of intensive research, Rick Atkinson has written what will surely come to be recognized as the definitive chronicle of the war.
Crusade follows the unfolding battle from the first night to the final day, providing vivid accounts of bombing runs and White House strategy sessions, firefights and bitter interservice conflicts. Weaving individual stories into the larger narrative, Atkinson represents the allied campaign against Saddam Hussein as a wholly new kind of war, one that has transformed the nature of modern warfare.
... Read moreD-Day
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Jason Culp
- Length: 3 hours 43 minutes
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Publish date: May 06, 2014
- Language: English
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4.35(12260 ratings)
Adapted for young readers from the #1 New York Times-bestselling The Guns at Last Light, D-Day captures the events and the spirit of that day–June 6, 1944–the day that led to the liberation of western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. They came by sea and by sky to reclaim freedom from the occupying Germans, turning the tide of World War II. Atkinson skillfully guides his younger audience through the events leading up to, and of, the momentous day in this photo-illustrated adaptation. Perfect for history buffs and newcomers to the topic alike!
This thoroughly-researched and documented book can be worked into multiple aspects of the common core curriculum.
... Read moreIn The Company of Soldiers
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Rick Atkinson
- Length: 6 hours 14 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2004
- Language: English
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3.9(1331 ratings)
For soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division, the road to Baghdad began with a midnight flight out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in late February 2003. For Rick Atkinson, who would spend nearly two months covering the division for The Washington Post, the war in Iraq provided a unique opportunity to observe today’s U.S. Army in combat.
Granted complete access to the commanders and troops of the 101st, Atkinson saw their war from the preparations in Kuwait through the occupation of Baghdad. As the war unfolded, he witnessed the division’s struggles to overcome a murderous attack by one of its own soldiers, a disastrous Apache helicopter raid, and fierce resistance from guerrilla diehards in Najaf, Karbala, and Hilla.
At the center of Atkinson’s drama stands the compelling figure of Major General David H. Petraeus, described by one comrade as “the most competitive man on the planet.” Atkinson observes Petraeus as he teaches, goads, and leads his troops and subordinate commanders in several intense battles. All around Petraeus, we watch the men and women of a storied division grapple with the challenges of waging war in an unspeakably harsh environment. But even as the military wins an overwhelming victory, we also see portents of the battles that would haunt the occupation in the long months ahead.
In the Company of Soldiers is a dramatic, utterly fresh view of the modern American soldier in action from the premier military historian of his generation.
The British Are Coming
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: George Newbern
- Length: 26 hours 8 minutes
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Publish date: May 14, 2019
- Language: English
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4.44(3833 ratings)
**One of AudioFile Magazine’s Best Audiobooks of 2019**
“The winning combination of George Newbern’s engaging narration and Rick Atkinson’s vivid new work of history–the first in a planned trilogy about the American Revolution–brings to life what could have been a dry account of Revolutionary battles.” — AudioFile Magazine
This program includes a bonus introduction, read by the author, and exclusive to the audiobook.
From the bestselling author of the Liberation Trilogy comes the extraordinary first volume of his new trilogy about the American Revolution.
Rick Atkinson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army at Dawn and two other superb books about World War II, has long been admired for his deeply researched, stunningly vivid narrative histories. Now he turns his attention to a new war, and in the initial volume of the Revolution Trilogy he recounts the first twenty-one months of America’s violent war for independence. From the battles at Lexington and Concord in spring 1775 to those at Trenton and Princeton in winter 1777, American militiamen and then the ragged Continental Army take on the world’s most formidable fighting force.
It is a gripping saga alive with astonishing characters: Henry Knox, the former bookseller with an uncanny understanding of artillery; Nathanael Greene, the blue-eyed bumpkin who becomes a brilliant battle captain; Benjamin Franklin, the self-made man who proves to be the wiliest of diplomats; George Washington, the commander in chief who learns the difficult art of leadership when the war seems all but lost. The story is also told from the British perspective, making the mortal conflict between the redcoats and the rebels all the more compelling.
Full of riveting details and untold stories, The British Are Coming is a tale of heroes and knaves, of sacrifice and blunder, of redemption and profound suffering. Rick Atkinson has given stirring new life to the first act of our country’s creation drama.
... Read moreThe British Are Coming
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: George Newbern
- Length: 12 hours 54 minutes
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Publish date: June 11, 2019
- Language: English
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4.44(3833 ratings)
**One of AudioFile Magazine’s Best Audiobooks of 2019**
“The winning combination of George Newbern’s engaging narration and Rick Atkinson’s vivid new work of history–the first in a planned trilogy about the American Revolution–brings to life what could have been a dry account of Revolutionary battles.” — AudioFile Magazine
This program includes a bonus introduction, read by the author, and exclusive to the audiobook. For the book’s maps and illustrations, visit the Revolution Trilogy website at revolutiontrilogy.com
From the bestselling author of the Liberation Trilogy comes the extraordinary first volume of his new trilogy about the American Revolution.
Rick Atkinson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army at Dawn and two other superb books about World War II, has long been admired for his deeply researched, stunningly vivid narrative histories. Now he turns his attention to a new war, and in the initial volume of the Revolution Trilogy he recounts the first twenty-one months of America’s violent war for independence. From the battles at Lexington and Concord in spring 1775 to those at Trenton and Princeton in winter 1777, American militiamen and then the ragged Continental Army take on the world’s most formidable fighting force.
It is a gripping saga alive with astonishing characters: Henry Knox, the former bookseller with an uncanny understanding of artillery; Nathanael Greene, the blue-eyed bumpkin who becomes a brilliant battle captain; Benjamin Franklin, the self-made man who proves to be the wiliest of diplomats; George Washington, the commander in chief who learns the difficult art of leadership when the war seems all but lost. The story is also told from the British perspective, making the mortal conflict between the redcoats and the rebels all the more compelling.
Full of riveting details and untold stories, The British Are Coming is a tale of heroes and knaves, of sacrifice and blunder, of redemption and profound suffering. Rick Atkinson has given stirring new life to the first act of our country’s creation drama.
... Read moreThe British Are Coming (Young Readers Edition)
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Matt Haynes
- Length: 5 hours 12 minutes
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Publish date: November 29, 2022
- Language: English
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4.33(6 ratings)
How did the United States become the country it is today? What led to its creation?
Adapted from Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Atkinson’s deeply researched and stunningly vivid The British Are Coming, the young readers edition explores these questions and so much more as it delves into the American Revolution. A collection of key battles from the beginning of the war, including Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill, sets the scene, telling a story of liberation fraught with contradiction and intrigue.
History buffs and newcomers alike will be drawn into this fascinating audiobook.
A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company.
... Read moreThe Day of Battle
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Rick Atkinson
- Length: 10 hours 11 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2007
- Language: English
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4.35(12260 ratings)
The harrowing story of one of history’s most compelling military campaigns.
In An Army at Dawn—winner of the Pulitzer Prize—Rick Atkinson provided a dramatic and authoritative history of the Allied triumph in North Africa. Now, in The Day of Battle, he follows the American and British armies as they invade Sicily in July 1943, attack Italy two months later, and then fight their way, mile by bloody mile, north toward Rome.
The Italian campaign’s outcome was never certain; in fact, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and their military advisors bitterly debated whether an invasion of the so-called soft underbelly of Europe was even wise. But once underway, the commitment to liberate Italy from the Nazis never wavered, despite the agonizing price. The battles at Salerno, Anzio, the Rapido River, and Cassino were particularly ferocious and lethal, yet as the months passed, the Allied forces continued to drive the Germans up the Italian peninsula. Led by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, among the war’s most complex and controversial commanders, American troops became increasingly determined and proficient. With the liberation of Rome in June 1944, ultimate victory in Europe at last began to seem inevitable.
Drawing on extensive new material from a wide array of primary sources, and written with great drama and flair, The Day of Battle is narrative history of the first rank.
The Day of Battle
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 32 hours 41 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2013
- Language: English
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4.35(12260 ratings)
The harrowing story of one of history’s most compelling military campaigns.
In An Army at Dawn–winner of the Pulitzer Prize–Rick Atkinson provided a dramatic and authoritative history of the Allied triumph in North Africa. Now, in The Day of Battle, he follows the American and British armies as they invade Sicily in July 1943, attack Italy two months later, and then fight their way, mile by bloody mile, north toward Rome.
The Italian campaign’s outcome was never certain; in fact, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and their military advisors bitterly debated whether an invasion of the so-called soft underbelly of Europe was even wise. But once underway, the commitment to liberate Italy from the Nazis never wavered, despite the agonizing price. The battles at Salerno, Anzio, the Rapido River, and Cassino were particularly ferocious and lethal, yet as the months passed, the Allied forces continued to drive the Germans up the Italian peninsula. Led by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, among the war’s most complex and controversial commanders, American troops became increasingly determined and proficient. With the liberation of Rome in June 1944, ultimate victory in Europe at last began to seem inevitable.
Drawing on extensive new material from a wide array of primary sources, and written with great drama and flair, The Day of Battle is narrative history of the first rank.
The Guns at Last Light
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 32 hours 18 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2013
- Language: English
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4.46(7018 ratings)
The eagerly awaited final volume in Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Atkinson’s New York Times bestselling Liberation Trilogy.
It is the twentieth century’s unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted the history of how the American-led coalition fought its way from North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now he tells the most ?dramatic story of all–the titanic battle in Western Europe.
D-Day marked the commencement of the war’s final campaign, and Atkinson’s astonishingly fresh account of that enormous gamble sets the pace for the masterly narrative that follows. The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich–all these historic moments come utterly alive. Atkinson tells the tale from the perspective of participants at all levels, from presidents and prime?ministers to ambitious generals, from war-weary lieutenants to terrified teenage riflemen. When Germany at last surrenders, we understand anew both the devastating cost of this global conflagration and the awe-inspiring effort that led to Germany’s?surrender.
With the stirring final volume of this monumental trilogy, Rick Atkinson’s remarkable accomplishment is manifest. He has produced the definitive chronicle of the war that restored freedom to the West. His lively, occasionally lyric prose brings the vast theater of battle, from the beaches of Normandy deep into Germany, brilliantly alive. It is hard to imagine a better history of the western front’s final phase.
The Guns at Last Light
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Rick Atkinson
- Length: 11 hours 22 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2013
- Language: English
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4.46(7018 ratings)
The eagerly awaited final volume in Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Atkinson’s New York Times bestselling Liberation Trilogy.
It is the twentieth century’s unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted the history of how the American-led coalition fought its way from North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now he tells the most ?dramatic story of all–the titanic battle in Western Europe.
D-Day marked the commencement of the war’s final campaign, and Atkinson’s astonishingly fresh account of that enormous gamble sets the pace for the masterly narrative that follows. The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich–all these historic moments come utterly alive. Atkinson tells the tale from the perspective of participants at all levels, from presidents and prime?ministers to ambitious generals, from war-weary lieutenants to terrified teenage riflemen. When Germany at last surrenders, we understand anew both the devastating cost of this global conflagration and the awe-inspiring effort that led to Germany’s?surrender.
With the stirring final volume of this monumental trilogy, Rick Atkinson’s remarkable accomplishment is manifest. He has produced the definitive chronicle of the war that restored freedom to the West. His lively, occasionally lyric prose brings the vast theater of battle, from the beaches of Normandy deep into Germany, brilliantly alive. It is hard to imagine a better history of the western front’s final phase.
The Long Gray Line
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrator: Adam Barr
- Length: 28 hours 32 minutes
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
- Publish date: May 04, 2021
- Language: English
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4.28(2511 ratings)
“A story of epic proportions [and] an awesome feat of biographical reconstruction.”–The Boston Globe
**This program includes an original foreword, read by Rick Atkinson, and exclusive to the audiobook, as well as a bonus conversation between the author and Ty Seidule**
For more on Rick Atkinson’s research and writing, please visit revolutiontrilogy.com
A classic of its kind, The Long Gray Line is the twenty-five-year saga of the West Point class of 1966. With a novelist’s eye for detail, Rick Atkinson illuminates this powerful story through the lives of three classmates and the women they loved–from the boisterous cadet years, to the fires of Vietnam, to the hard peace and internal struggles that followed the war.
The rich cast of characters also includes Douglas MacArthur, William C. Westmoreland, and a score of other memorable figures. The class of 1966 straddled a fault line in American history, and Atkinson’s masterly book speaks for a generation of American men and women about innocence, patriotism, and the price we pay for our dreams.
A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company
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