The British are coming - the war for America by Rick Atkinson

The British are coming war for America, Lexington to Princeton,1775-1777
Abraham Lincoln said "a house divided against itself cannot stand" he was correct though it stood just barely, leaving a trail of divided families, many dead or wounded along with mass destruction and the heritage of racism. Today, we may be facing the potential of something  similar in a  more modern world of sophisticated media and other technologies, as well as unsophisticated so-called "alternate facts."
None of the above has solely been created by the con artist, liar and dictator lover in the White House but he has enhanced, used and personally benefited from many of them. For many of us this has posed a real dilemma. It began  from the start of Trump's administration. I remember thinking his words and claims were untrue, even un presidential and couldn't get worse. It has of course, even to the point of abuse of office and selling out his countries safety, security and the Constitution of the United States for his personal and political benefit. Back in the day he would be identified as  a traitor.
What to do? I'd heard enough from the so-called panel experts on cable TV. It was time to go back to the first house divided. That is to say the American Revolution and the founding fathers, many of whom survived that colonial/Civil War for independence to write the blueprint for a new nation. It's    called the Constitution of the United States of America. As the impeachment process continues in the days ahead will be hearing much of the words and meaning of that document.
As luck would have it I had just noted one of my favorite American historians Rick Atkinson had just  published the first book in  a trilogy on the American Revolution. His writing is right up there at the very top of his profession. Think of authors like Stephen Ambrose, David McCullough, Doris Kearns Goodwin and. Bruce Catton ......

.......... Rick Atkinson is an American historian who began his writing career as a highly successful newspaper reporter who later turned to writing mostly military history. . For those of you that slept through those boring history textbooks and lectures in high school the British Are Coming will bring it all to life as s only Atkinson can. For those of you that know the story because you liked history to begin with   this will not be the story that you thought you knew. I doesn't have the romantic of all those paintings and legends. For those of you that love historical fiction please be careful because this book feels like historical fiction but it isn't. It's based on  well documented research which you can check in the back of the book. All your senses will come alive as you read what really happened. The smell, sound  and scenes will come alive as you read and yes the emotions's as well.


Many historians guess that the American colonists were divided into about three equal groups You'll meet those who just wanted no part of this awful Civil War, and the Patriots will put everything on the line to create their own Republic, and the Tories who remained loyal to the king and Empire
This was indeed our first house divided. More people as a percentage of the total population died in this war than any other with the exception of the one Pres. Lincoln feared.
In summing up the this wonderful book I'm having a hard time choosing   appropriate  descriptions.  Perhaps masterpiece, classic, poetic, cinematic and God forbid prophetic. This divided people long ago in spite of almost impossible odds created a new nation based upon their acceptance of common goals and  a structure of government which divided power into three equal branches, to make sure that no single group or person  could be all powerful nor subservient to foreign interference and bribery. From The very beginning that Atkinson wrote so poignantly about, generations  kept the promise. Now it's our turn. To disagree without being disagreeable nor demeaning each other. Focus on our common goals which should allow us to do something we seem to have forgotten. Compromise. King George III might had tried that with better results.....

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@Barrie Summy