This marvellous book goes on to delineate the tortuous path that Great Britain and its American colonies would follow for the next few years, at the start of a conflict that would last until 1783. With his description of the events at Portsmouth, Atkinson once again justifies a New York Times review of a previous volume which described his work as ‘a tapestry of fabulous richness and complexity… Atkinson is a master of what might be called “pointillism history”, assembling the small dots of pure colour into a vivid, tumbling narrative…’.Īnd that is just the beginning. George, so content at the military glory and successful expansion of the British Empire, could not know that within two years the Empire would be faced with an intractable challenge that would pare away a large portion of its possessions. After a grand luncheon on the warship Barfleur, the king was rowed back to the dock amid cheering crowds and salutes of naval gunfire, later to recall that he had ‘never had a finer day’. This exceptionally valuable volume opens in June 1773, when King George III travels from Kew Gardens to Portsmouth to conduct a grand inspection tour of the English fleet – a four-day extravaganza to celebrate the arm which had served to defeat France and Spain during the Seven Years War. THE BRITISH ARE COMING: THE WAR FOR AMERICA, LEXINGTON TO PRINCETON, 1775-1777
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