The winning volume, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, outpaced a competitive field of finalists to claim the top honor. Atkinson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian, expressed pride in his alignment with the Trust’s mission to preserve hallowed battlegrounds. The organization, which marks its 40th anniversary next year, established the award to spotlight literature covering the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.

Honorable mentions were awarded to Richard Bell for his global analysis in The American Revolution and the Fate of the World and to A. Wilson Greene for A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg, Volume 2. These authors, alongside other finalists including Ken Burns and John Ferling, are scheduled to participate in the Battlefield BookFest in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, this November. The official prize ceremony will take place in a private October event, celebrating scholars who breathe new life into the narrative of American conflict.