A quick note for those interested in US military history – and specifically the history of the US Army during World War II.<\/p>\n
Some of you may have heard of Rick Atkinson.\u00a0 He’s been working on a 3-volume history of the US Army during World War II for several years.\u00a0 He called the 3-volume series the “Liberation Trilogy.”<\/p>\n
The first volume, “An Army at Dawn”, covered the North Africa campaign.\u00a0 It was published in 2002.\u00a0 It received the Pulitzer.Prize for History in 2003.<\/p>\n
The second volume, “The Day of Battle”, was published in 2007.\u00a0 It focused on Sicily and Italy.\u00a0 It did not receive a Pulitzer, but was nonetheless excellent.<\/p>\n
The third volume, “The Guns at Last Light”, was released this week.\u00a0 It covers the liberation of France and the end of Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n
Atkinson’s Wikipedia bio can be found here<\/a>.\u00a0 It’s quite impressive.<\/p>\n Can he write?\u00a0 In a word – yes.\u00a0 But you’d expect that from someone who’s been awarded a Pulitzer for History; has had a hand in two others as a journalist; has received the Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense; who’s held the Omar N. Bradley Chair for Distinguished Leadership at the National Defense University; and who’s been awarded the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.<\/p>\n But don’t take my word for it; judge for yourself.\u00a0 A sample of his latest work (the Prologue) can be found here<\/a>. Excerpts from the other two volumes may be found here (Volume 1)<\/a> and here (Volume 2)<\/a>.<\/p>\n I have no economic interest in Atkinson’s works.\u00a0 But for anyone interested in the history of the US Army – like many readers of TAH – the first two volumes are absolutely wonderful books. I have no doubt that the third will be their equal.<\/p>\n I’ll let you know how good the third volume is after my copy comes in and I’ve finished it. I ordered it today. It’s the first time in quite a while I’ve bought a book the week it was released.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"