Photo by John McKinnon

Savannah, GA, October 10, 2025 – The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) welcomed acclaimed historian and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson to Savannah on Thursday, October 9, as the keynote presentation of the 2025–2026 Georgia History Festival and part of GHS’s statewide US250 commemoration.

The evening program explored the Revolutionary War’s pivotal middle years and their lasting impact on the fight for American independence. In conversation with Dr. Stan Deaton, the Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian at GHS, Atkinson discussed his latest work, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777–1780, which explores the pivotal middle years of the American Revolution, including the 1779 Siege of Savannah, when American and French forces fought on the knife edge between victory and defeat.

“Rick Atkinson is one of America’s most distinguished and best historians, and how lucky for all of us that he has chosen to tell America’s origin story at this crucial moment in our history,” said Dr. Stan Deaton, Senior Historian at the Georgia Historical Society. “His authority as a military analyst and his dedication to the craft of narrative history is unmatched—as his three Pulitzers demonstrate. He is simply the best at what he does, and we're thrilled to have him join us.”

Following the program, guests had the opportunity to meet the author and participate in a book signing. Atkinson's latest book is the second volume in his acclaimed Revolution Trilogy and extends his recognized body of work, which includes The British Are Coming—winner of the George Washington Prize—and the Liberation Trilogy, for which he received a Pulitzer Prize in History for An Army at Dawn.

Atkinson was previously recognized by GHS as a Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Teaching Fellow in 2019, honoring his outstanding contributions to historical scholarship and his enduring commitment to advancing public understanding of America’s past.

The 2025–2026 Georgia History Festival, GHS’s signature K-12 educational program reaching nearly 250,000 students statewide, will continue through the winter and spring with classroom resources and public events that bring history to life, including the Colonial Faire and Muster, Super Museum Sunday, the Georgia Day Expo, a panel discussion titled “A United States but a Divided America: How We Have Celebrated the Nation’s Birthday During Turbulent Times” with University of Virginia professors Dr. William Hitchock and Dr. Elizabeth Varon, and the Trustees Gala.

For additional details, please visit www.georgiahistoryfestival.org or please contact Keith Strigaro, Director of Public Relations and Communications, at 912.651.2125, ext. 153, or by email at kstrigaro@georgiahistory.com.

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