"Rick Atkinson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army at Dawn and two other masterly books about World War II, has long been admired for his unparalleled ability to write deeply researched, stunningly vivid narrative history. Now he turns his attention to a new war, and in the initial volume of the Revolution Trilogy he tells the story of the first twenty months of the bloody struggle to shake free of King George's shackles. From the battles at Lexington and Concord in spring 1775 to those at Trenton and Princeton in winter 1777, the ragtag Continental Army takes on the world's most formidable fighting force and gradually finds the will and the way to win. It is a riveting saga populated by singular characters: Henry Knox, the former bookseller with an uncanny understanding of how best to deploy artillery; Nathaniel Greene, the blue-eyed bumpkin who becomes one of America's greatest battle captains; Benjamin Franklin, the self-made man who proves himself the nation's greatest diplomat; George Washington, the commander-in-chief who learns the difficult art of leadership amid the fire and smoke of the battlefield. And the British are here, too: we see the war through their eyes and their gunsights, and as a consequence the mortal conflict between the redcoats and the rebels is all the more compelling. Full of fresh details and untold stories, The British Are Coming gives stirring new life to the first act of our country's creation drama. It is a tale of heroes and knaves, of sacrifice and blunder, of redemption and profound suffering. But once begun, the war for independence can have only one of two outcomes: death or victory."-- Provided by publisher.

Maps on lining paper.

Prologue: England, June 1773-March 1775 --Part One. God Himself our captain: Boston, March 6-April 17, 1775 -- Men came down from the clouds: Lexington and Concord, April 18-19, 1775 -- I wish this cursed place was burned: Boston and Charlestown May-June 1775 -- What shall we say of human nature?: Cambridge Camp, July-October 1775 -- I shall try to retard the evil hour: Into Canada, October-November 1775 -- America is an ugly job: London, October-November 1775 -- They fought, bled, and died like Englishmen: Norfolk, Virginia, December 1775 -- The paths of glory: Quebec, December 3, 1775-January 1, 1776 -- Part Two. The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate: Boston, January-February 1776 -- The whipping snake: Cork, Ireland and Moore's Creek, North Carolina, January-March 1776 -- City of our solemnities: Boston, March 1776 -- A strange reverse of fortune: Quebec, April-June 1776 -- Surrounded by enemies, open and concealed: New York, June 1776 -- A dog in a dancing school: Charleston, South Carolina,, June 1776 -- A fight among wolves: New York, July-August 1776 -- A sentimental manner of making war: New York, September 1776 -- Part Three. Master of the lakes: Lake Champlain, October 1776 -- The retrograde motion of things: New York, October-November 1776 -- A Quaker in Paris: France, November-December 1776 -- Fire-and-Sword men: New Jersey, December 1776 -- The smiles of Providence: Trenton, December 24-26, 1776 -- The day is our own: Trenton and Princeton, January 1777 -- Epilogue: England and America, 1777.