Last Updated on October 28, 2026
Resident Ken Weeden will review The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston 1777-1780 by Rick Atkinson on Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at 7 PM in the Auditorium. This is his review for the November issue of The Sunburst.
The Fate of the Day, the second book of Rick Atkinson’s Revolution Trilogy, covers the crucial middle years of the War of Independence. Between 1777 and 1780, both the Americans and the British fought through constantly shifting outcomes—from total devastation to surprise victories—always in the thick of misery, disease, and carnage.
Atkinson’s brilliant portrayal takes us to Saratoga, where Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold defeat General Burgoyne and his 6,000 men—the monumental American victory that brings the French into the war.
We also go to Charleston, two years later, when the British defeat the colonial army in the war’s worst military disaster. We witness the daily suffering of the soldiers, who went shoeless, even half-naked, with quarter rations and no pay for months and years on end. And we see some “what ifs” of war: what if General Howe had headed north to aid Burgoyne and not seized Philadelphia? What if southern patriots had allowed their slaves to arm and fight the British at Charleston?
By the spring of 1780, both sides are exhausted. Continental currency is practically worthless. Mutinous talk begins. Benedict Arnold initiates his treasonous
correspondence with the British. In England, angry debates erupt in Parliament over the cost of the war.
Who will prevail? What will turn the fate of the day? Find out more at the November Book Review!
Rick Atkinson is a military historian and the award-winning author of eight books covering five American wars.
Ken Weeden is a longtime Charlestown resident. His special interests include history, world travel, and social justice. He has taught ELLIC classes and is a frequent contributor to the Book Review.