Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 26 minutes ago
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson is the author of eight narrative histories about five American wars. His most recent book, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, debuted as the #1 New York Times nonfiction bestseller. The first volume in the Revolution Trilogy, The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, spent nearly three months on the New York Times bestseller list in 2019. In 2020, The British Are Coming won the George Washington Prize for the year’s best work on the American founding era; the New-York Historical Society’s Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize, awarded annually to the best work in the field of American history and biography; the “Excellence in American History Book Award” of the Daughters of the American Revolution; and the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award.
In this Constitutional Conversation, Mr. Atkinson discusses the history and legacy of the American Revolution and George Washington with the James Madison Foundation's Senior Academic Advisory Consultant, Dr. Jeffry H. Morrison of Christopher Newport University.
00:00 - 07:48 - George Washington as General
7:48 - 13:57 - George Washington as Politician
13:58 - 18:04 - Comparing General Washington with General Eisenhower
18:05 - 24:32 - Research Surprises
24:33 - 29:42 - George III and the American Revolution
29:43 - 32:43 - Reassessing George III
32:43 - 41:01 - The Early Years of the American Revolution
41:02 - 50:00 - Lessons from the American Revolution
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson is the author of eight narrative histories about five American wars. His most recent book, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, debuted as the #1 New York Times nonfiction bestseller. The first volume in the Revolution Trilogy, The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, spent nearly three months on the New York Times bestseller list in 2019. In 2020, The British Are Coming won the George Washington Prize for the year’s best work on the American founding era; the New-York Historical Society’s Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize, awarded annually to the best work in the field of American history and biography; the “Excellence in American History Book Award” of the Daughters of the American Revolution; and the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award.
In this Constitutional Conversation, Mr. Atkinson discusses the history and legacy of the American Revolution and George Washington with the James Madison Foundation's Senior Academic Advisory Consultant, Dr. Jeffry H. Morrison of Christopher Newport University.
00:00 - 07:48 - George Washington as General
7:48 - 13:57 - George Washington as Politician
13:58 - 18:04 - Comparing General Washington with General Eisenhower
18:05 - 24:32 - Research Surprises
24:33 - 29:42 - George III and the American Revolution
29:43 - 32:43 - Reassessing George III
32:43 - 41:01 - The Early Years of the American Revolution
41:02 - 50:00 - Lessons from the American Revolution
