The British Are Coming; The War for America 1775-1777

In this first part of a three part Revolutionary Trilogy, Rick Atkinson, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, tells the story of the first twenty-one months of America's violent effort to forge a new nation. From the battles of Lexington and Concord in spring in 1775 to those at Trenton and Princeton in winter 1776-77, American militiamen and the ragged Continental Army take on the world's most formidable fighting force and struggle to avoid annihilation. It is a gripping saga alive with astonishing characters: Henry Knox, the former bookseller with an uncanny understanding of artillery; Nathaniel Greene, the blue-eyed bumpkin who became one of America's greatest battle captain; Benjamin Franklin, the self-made man who proves himself the nations wiliest diplomat, 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: we see the fight through their eyes and down their gun barrels, which make the mortal conflict between the redcoats and the rebels all the more compelling. Full of riveting details and untold stories, the British Are Coming gives new life to an old tale.