The American Revolution Is Not Over. With Historian Rick Atkinson
The Bill Press Pod
BP Pods
4.7 • 601 Ratings
🗓️ 7 April 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Bill hosts historian Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of a WWII trilogy and a new American Revolution trilogy, with two volumes out (The British Are Coming and The Fate of the Day) and a third he hopes to finish by 2031. Atkinson describes his archival research approach and argues the Revolution became an eight-year global war and an American civil war, turning especially brutal in the South. He highlights key turning points including Trenton/Princeton, Saratoga’s role in bringing decisive French alliance, and French indispensability at Yorktown. He assesses Washington’s early missteps and growth, Benedict Arnold’s battlefield brilliance and festering grievances, Robert Morris’s critical wartime financing, and women’s essential roles. He discusses enslaved and Indigenous peoples’ tragic outcomes, black participation on both sides, and concludes the Revolution’s democratic aspirations remain unfinished and must be renewed to prevent future tyrannies.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, hello, good to see you. |
| 0:09.0 | And now it's time to sit back or maybe take a long walk and enjoy this week's special edition of the Bill Press Pod with historian Rick Atkinson. |
| 0:19.0 | You probably know Rick from his great trilogy on World War II, |
| 0:22.8 | for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, or maybe you saw him his leading role in Ken Burns' |
| 0:28.0 | recent PBS special on the Revolutionary War. Well, now, as we begin America's 250th birthday |
| 0:35.3 | celebration, Rick is back with a new trilogy on the American Revolution. |
| 0:40.6 | Two volumes have been published so far. The British are coming and the fate of the day. |
| 0:46.0 | The third volume on its way. In my opinion, nobody writes history better than Rick |
| 0:52.4 | Atkinson. His research is amazing. His attention to detail is |
| 0:56.4 | stunning. His portrayal of leading characters like George Washington is awesome. He really makes history |
| 1:03.2 | come alive. A few weeks ago, I had a chance to sit down with Rick at the Hill Center here in |
| 1:10.2 | Washington, D.C., |
| 1:11.6 | and how thrilling it was to hear him describe so many features of the American Revolution in person. |
| 1:18.0 | I'm convinced, after our conversation, that I'm even more excited now to read volume three of Rick Atkinson's trilogy on the Revolution. And you know what? |
| 1:29.6 | After listening to this podcast, you will be too. How lucky we are tonight. Here we are now |
| 1:37.1 | just the beginning of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. |
| 1:42.9 | We have a chance tonight to meet and talk with a man |
| 1:46.7 | who's writing the definitive history of the American Revolution on top of having won the |
| 1:53.2 | Pulitzer Prize for his definitive history of World War II. Rick Ackison, it's an honor |
| 1:58.3 | to have you here tonight, Rick. |
| 1:59.8 | Thank you so much. Thank you. |
| 2:01.6 | The first one, the British are coming, and the second, the fate of the day. |
... |
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