The History Book Club discussion

This thread focuses on the Table of Contents and Syllabus for the book The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson.

by Rick Atkinson

Contents

TITLE PAGE ...vii

COPYRIGHT NOTICE ...

DEDICATION ...ix

EPIGRAPH ...v

LIST OF MAPS ...xv

MAP LEGEND ...xvi

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...xvii

PROLOGUE, England, June 1773–March 1775 - page 1

1. Inspecting the Fleet - page 1
2. Avenging the Tea - page 11
3. Preparing for War - page 23

Part One

1. GOD HIMSELF OUR CAPTAIN Boston, March 6–April 17, 1775  - page 35

2. MEN CAME DOWN FROM THE CLOUDS Lexington and Concord, April 18–19, 1775  - page 55

3. I WISH THIS CURSED PLACE WAS BURNED Boston and Charlestown, May–June 1775  - page 83

4. WHAT SHALL WE SAY OF HUMAN NATURE? Cambridge Camp, July–October 1775   - page 116

5. I SHALL TRY TO RETARD THE EVIL HOUR Into Canada, October–November 1775  - page 141 

6. AMERICA IS AN UGLY JOB London, October–November 1775   - page 164

7. THEY FOUGHT, BLED, AND DIED LIKE ENGLISHMEN Norfolk, Virginia, December 1775   - page 182

8. THE PATHS OF GLORY Quebec, December 3, 1775–January 1, 1776 - page 195

Part Two   - page 217

9. THE WAYS OF HEAVEN ARE DARK AND INTRICATE Boston, January–February 1776 - page 219

10. THE WHIPPING SNAKE Cork, Ireland, and Moore’s Creek, North Carolina, January–March 1776 - page 241

11. CITY OF OUR SOLEMNITIES Boston, March 1776 - page 257

12. A STRANGE REVERSE OF FORTUNE Quebec, April–June 1776 - page 273

13. SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES, OPEN AND CONCEALED New York, June 1776 - page 297

14. A DOG IN A DANCING SCHOOL Charleston, South Carolina, June 1776 - page 323

15. A FIGHT AMONG WOLVES New York, July–August 1776 - page 348

16. A SENTIMENTAL MANNER OF MAKING WAR New York, September 1776 - page 380

Part Three - page 403

17. MASTER OF THE LAKES Lake Champlain, October 1776 - page 405

18. THE RETROGRADE MOTION OF THINGS New York, October–November 1776 - page 431

19. A QUAKER IN PARIS France, November–December 1776 - page 465

20. FIRE-AND-SWORD MEN New Jersey, December 1776 - page 485

21. THE SMILES OF PROVIDENCE Trenton, December 24–26, - 1776 - page 511

22. THE DAY IS OUR OWN Trenton and Princeton, January 1777 - page 530

EPILOGUE, England and America, 1777 Photographs - page 555

Photographs - page 564

Author's Note - page 565

Notes - page 575

Sources - page 703

Acknowledgments - page 747

Index - page 753

Also by Rick Atkinson - page vi of 777

Praise for Rick Atkinson's: The British are Coming - page i of 777

About the Author - page 777

Newsletter Sign-up - page 777

Copyright - page 777

Syllabus

Week One: -(May 10th - May 17th)

TITLE PAGE ...vii

COPYRIGHT NOTICE ...

DEDICATION ...ix

EPIGRAPH ...v

LIST OF MAPS ...xv

MAP LEGEND ...xvi

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...xvii

PROLOGUE, England, June 1773–March 1775 - page 1

1. Inspecting the Fleet - page 1
2. Avenging the Tea - page 11
3. Preparing for War - page 23

Part One

1. GOD HIMSELF OUR CAPTAIN Boston, March 6–April 17, 1775  - page 35

Week Two: (May 18th - May 24th)

2. MEN CAME DOWN FROM THE CLOUDS Lexington and Concord, April 18–19, 1775  - page 55

3. I WISH THIS CURSED PLACE WAS BURNED Boston and Charlestown, May–June 1775  - page 83

Week Three (May 25th - May 31st)

4. WHAT SHALL WE SAY OF HUMAN NATURE? Cambridge Camp, July–October 1775   - page 116

5. I SHALL TRY TO RETARD THE EVIL HOUR Into Canada, October–November 1775  - page 141 

6. AMERICA IS AN UGLY JOB London, October–November 1775   - page 164

Week Four (June 1st - June 7th)

7. THEY FOUGHT, BLED, AND DIED LIKE ENGLISHMEN Norfolk, Virginia, December 1775   - page 182

8. THE PATHS OF GLORY Quebec, December 3, 1775–January 1, 1776 - page 195

Part Two   - page 217

9. THE WAYS OF HEAVEN ARE DARK AND INTRICATE Boston, January–February 1776 - page 219

Week Five: (June 8th - June 14th)

10. THE WHIPPING SNAKE Cork, Ireland, and Moore’s Creek, North Carolina, January–March 1776 - page 241

11. CITY OF OUR SOLEMNITIES Boston, March 1776 - page 257

12. A STRANGE REVERSE OF FORTUNE Quebec, April–June 1776 - page 273

Week Six: (June 15th - June 21st)

13. SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES, OPEN AND CONCEALED New York, June 1776 - page 297

14. A DOG IN A DANCING SCHOOL Charleston, South Carolina, June 1776 - page 323

Week Seven: (June 22nd - June 28th)

15. A FIGHT AMONG WOLVES New York, July–August 1776 - page 348

16. A SENTIMENTAL MANNER OF MAKING WAR New York, September 1776 - page 380

Week Eight: (June 29th - July 5th)

Part Three - page 403

17. MASTER OF THE LAKES Lake Champlain, October 1776 - page 405

18. THE RETROGRADE MOTION OF THINGS New York, October–November 1776 - page 431

Week Nine: (July 6th - July 12th)

19. A QUAKER IN PARIS France, November–December 1776 - page 465

20. FIRE-AND-SWORD MEN New Jersey, December 1776 - page 485

Week Ten: (July 13th - July 19th)

21. THE SMILES OF PROVIDENCE Trenton, December 24–26, - 1776 - page 511

22. THE DAY IS OUR OWN Trenton and Princeton, January 1777 - page 530

Week Eleven: - Catch Up Week (July 20th - July 26th)

EPILOGUE, England and America, 1777 Photographs - page 555

Photographs - page 564

Author's Note - page 565

Week Twelve - Books as a Whole and Final Thoughts (July 27th - August 2nd

Notes - page 575

Sources - page 703

Acknowledgments - page 747

Index - page 753

Also by Rick Atkinson - page vi of 777

Praise for Rick Atkinson's: The British are Coming - page i of 777

About the Author - page 777

Newsletter Sign-up - page 777

Copyright - page 777

Spotlighted Book - The British are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton

by Rick Atkinson

Synopsis:

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.

ABOUT RICK ATKINSON



Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author & Historian

Rick Atkinson is author of The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, the first volume of his intended Revolution Trilogy, a history of the American rebellion through 1783.

He is also author of the Liberation Trilogy, a narrative history of the liberation of Europe in World War II. The first volume, An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, received the Pulitzer Prize and was acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal as “the best World War II battle narrative since Cornelius Ryan’s classics, The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far.” The second volume, The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, drew praise from the New York Times as “a triumph of narrative history, elegantly written…and rooted in the sight and sounds of battle.” The final volume of the Liberation Trilogy, The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945, published in May 2013, ranked #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The Wall Street Journal called it “a magnificent book,” and the New York Times Book Review described it as “a tapestry of fabulous richness and complexity…The Liberation Trilogy is a monumental achievement.”

Atkinson is also the best-selling author of The Long Gray Line, a narrative saga about the West Point class of 1966, and Crusade, a narrative history of the Persian Gulf War. He also wrote In the Company of Soldiers, an account of his time with General David H. Petraeus and the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003; the New York Times Book Review called the book “the most intimate, vivid, and well-informed account yet published” about that war, and Newsweek cited it as one of the ten best books of 2004. He is the lead essayist in Where Valor Rests: Arlington National Cemetery, published by National Geographic in 2007.

Atkinson’s awards include the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for history; the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting; and the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for public service, awarded to the Washington Post for investigative articles directed and edited by Atkinson on shootings by District of Columbia police officers. He is winner of the 1989 George Polk Award for national reporting, the 2003 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award, the 2007 Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, the 2010 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing, the 2013 New York Military Affairs Symposium award for lifetime achievement, and the 2014 Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for lifetime achievement from the Society for Military History. In December 2015 he received the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, previously given to Saul Bellow, Toni Morrison, and David McCullough. Atkinson has served as the Gen. Omar N. Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership at the U.S. Army War College, where he remains an adjunct faculty member. He is a Presidential Counselor at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, a member of the Society of American Historians, and an inductee in the Academy of Achievement, for which he also serves as a board member. He serves on the governing commission of the National Portrait Gallery.

Atkinson worked as a reporter, foreign correspondent, and senior editor for two decades at the Washington Post. His last assignments were covering the 101st Airborne during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and writing about roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007. Previously he served as the assistant managing editor for investigations. Atkinson’s journalism career began at the Pittsburg (Kansas) Morning Sun in 1976; in 1977, he moved to the Kansas City Times, before going to the Washington Post in 1983. Among other assignments, he served as the Post’s Berlin bureau chief, covering not only Germany and NATO, but also spending considerable time in Somalia and Bosnia.

Born in Munich, Germany, Atkinson is the son of a U.S. Army officer and grew up on military posts. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from East Carolina University and a master of arts degree in English literature from the University of Chicago. He and his wife, Dr. Jane Chestnut Atkinson of Lawrence, Kansas, a researcher and clinician at the National Institutes of Health, live in the District of Columbia. They have two grown children, Rush, a criminal trial attorney for the Justice Department, and Sarah, a physician and colorectal surgery fellow at the University of Toronto.

by Rick Atkinson