The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780

The second volume of Rick Atkinson's American Revolution trilogy covers the war from Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, spanning 1777-1780. By winter 1777, the exhausted Continental Army had barely escaped annihilation by British forces. Two years into the conflict, King George III remained determined to suppress the rebellion, but faced mounting costs and threats of French and Spanish intervention. Atkinson's narrative follows multiple fronts: Benjamin Franklin in Paris negotiating with the French, George Washington in Pennsylvania requesting Congress provide funds and supplies, and British General William Howe planning campaigns despite growing uncertainty about victory. The period includes major battles at Brandywine, Saratoga, Monmouth, and Charleston, the winter encampment at Valley Forge, and repeated calls for sacrifice from those committed to American independence. Atkinson examines how the middle years of the Revolution tested both the military and the democratic commitment required to sustain the struggle for freedom.