Rick Atkinson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rick Atkinson
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at 2015 National Book Festival
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Lawrence Rush Atkinson IV
November 15, 1952 Munich, then West Germany
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| Agent | Raphael Sagalyn |
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Jane Ann Chestnut
(m. 1979) |
| Children | Rush, Sarah |
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Rick Atkinson (born November 15, 1952) is an American author. He is known for writing books about history, especially wars. He has won several important awards, including Pulitzer Prizes for his writing.
His most recent book is The British Are Coming. It is the first part of his American Revolution series. Before becoming a full-time author, Rick worked as a journalist. He wrote for a big newspaper called The Washington Post. He has written seven books about different American wars.
One of his famous works is The Liberation Trilogy. This series tells the story of America's role in freeing Europe during World War II. The last book in this series, The Guns at Last Light, came out in 2013. In 2010, he received a special award for his lifetime work in military writing.
Contents
About Rick Atkinson
Rick Atkinson was born in Munich, Germany. His father was an officer in the U.S. Army. Rick chose not to go to West Point, a military academy. Instead, he went to East Carolina University. He earned a bachelor's degree in English in 1974. He then got a master's degree from the University of Chicago in 1975.
Early Journalism Career
In 1975, Rick started working as a newspaper reporter. His first job was at The Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kansas. He wrote about local news and crime. In 1977, he joined The Kansas City Times. He worked there as a national reporter.
In 1982, he won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. This award was for his stories about the West Point class of 1966. Many soldiers from this class died in the Vietnam War. He also helped cover the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse in Kansas City.
Working at The Washington Post
In 1983, Rick joined The Washington Post. He wrote about defense and politics. He covered the 1984 presidential election. He also reported on Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run for Vice President.
Later, he became an editor. He managed stories about defense and international relations. In 1988, he returned to reporting. He investigated topics like public housing. He also wrote about the secret history of the B-2 stealth bomber.
During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, he was the newspaper's main writer. In 1993, he became the bureau chief in Berlin. He covered Germany and NATO. He also reported from Somalia and Bosnia.
He returned to Washington in 1996. He led a team that investigated police shootings. Their work won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Becoming a Military Historian
Rick left newspaper work in 1999. He wanted to write books about World War II. This interest started because he was born in Germany. He briefly returned to The Washington Post twice. In 2003, he went to Iraq with General David Petraeus. In 2007, he visited Iraq and Afghanistan. He wrote about roadside bombs in modern warfare. This series won another award.
He also taught at the United States Army War College. He is a member of the Society of American Historians. Rick is married to Jane Ann Chestnut. They have two grown children.
Rick Atkinson's Books
Early Books
Rick's first book was The Long Gray Line. It was about the West Point class of 1966. A review in Time magazine called it "brilliant history." Another reviewer said it was "the best book out of Vietnam to date."
In 1993, he wrote Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. The Wall Street Journal said he was well-prepared to write about the war. They felt his book fully used this opportunity.
The Liberation Trilogy
His famous The Liberation Trilogy began in 2002. The first book was An Army at Dawn. It was praised as a great World War II battle story. In 2003, he won the Pulitzer Prize for history for this book.
The second book, The Day of Battle, came out in 2007. It covers the war in Sicily and Italy. The New York Times called it a "triumph of narrative history." The third book, The Guns at Last Light, was published in 2013. It became a #1 bestseller. The New York Times described the trilogy as a "monument achievement."
Other Works
Rick also wrote In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat. This book came from his time with General Petraeus in Iraq. The New York Times Book Review called it "intimate, vivid, and well-informed." Newsweek named it one of the ten best books of 2004.
He was also the main writer for Where Valor Rests: Arlington National Cemetery. This book was published by the National Geographic Society.
The Revolution Trilogy
In 2019, the first book in his Revolution Trilogy was published. It is called The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777. The New York Times chose it as one of their 100 Notable Books of 2019. It also won the 2020 George Washington Book Prize.
Awards and Honors
Rick Atkinson has received many awards for his journalism and historical writing.
- 1982 Pulitzer Prize, National Reporting
- 1983 Livingston Award for Young Journalists
- 1989 George Polk Award for National Reporting
- 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (awarded to The Washington Post team)
- 2003 Pulitzer Prize in History, for An Army at Dawn
- 2007 Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense
- 2010 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing
- 2014 Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for lifetime achievement
- 2019 Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Fellow
- 2020 George Washington Book Prize for The British Are Coming
