MILITARY HISTORIAN RICK ATKINSON WINS $50,000 AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD TRUST PRIZE FOR HISTORY WITH SECOND VOLUME IN HIS MASTERFUL REVOLUTIONARY WAR TRILOGY

Honorable mention accolades go to A. Wilson Greene and Richard Bell in contest showcases how the power of place informs historical scholarship  

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Military historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson has captured the third-annual American Battlefield Trust Prize for History with the second volume of his Revolutionary War trilogy, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780. Out of a strong field of finalists, honorable mention was awarded to Richard Bell for The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, and A. Wilson Greene for A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg Volume 2, From the Crater's Aftermath to the Battle of Burgess Mill.

The Prize recognizes outstanding works of military history or biography related to the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The organization, which celebrates its 40th anniversary next July, has protected more than 63,000 acres on 160 battlefields across 25 states. The $50,000 award is endowed by a generous donor, ensuring no funds are diverted from the Trust's primary mission.

"I'm thrilled, and deeply honored, by this extraordinarily generous gesture," said Atkinson. "I deeply admire what the American Battlefield Trust is doing for the country, and am proud to be affiliated with such a righteous cause."

A journalist turned military historian, Atkinson has previously won the Pulitzer Prize in each discipline. His eight acclaimed history books to date cover five different American Wars — from the Revolution to the Global War on Terror.

In his Honorable Mention book Bell, a University of Maryland professor, examines the global ripples of our nation's founding conflict. Meanwhile A. Wilson Greene, a former National Park Service historian and preservation icon, details the middle phases of the Civil War's Petersburg Campaign.  

The prizes will be awarded in a private ceremony in October. All finalists are invited to speak at the Trust's Battlefield BookFest in Gettysburg, Pa., November 13-14; tickets go on sale August 3.

Other 2026 finalists were:

• Ken Burns and Geoffrey Ward, The American Revolution (Alfred A. Knopf) 
• John Ferling, Shots Heard Round the World (Bloomsbury) 
• Mark Edward Lender & James Kirby Martin, War Without Mercy: Liberty or Death in the American Revolution (Osprey)
• Damian Shiels, Green and Blue: Irish Americans in the Union Military (Louisiana State University Press)

For more information on the prize, including past honorees, please visit www.battlefields.org/bookprize. Share your thoughts on social media using the hashtag #BattlefieldBookPrize

The American Battlefield Trust is dedicated to preserving America's hallowed battlegrounds and educating the public about what happened there and why it matters today. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has protected more than 60,000 acres associated with the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War across 160 sites in 25 states. Learn more at www.battlefields.org.

SOURCE American Battlefield Trust