Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Rick Atkinson announced as 2026 Dole Lecture guest
LAWRENCE — The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas announced that Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of the Revolution Trilogy and the Liberation Trilogy, will be the featured guest at the annual Dole Lecture at 7 p.m. April 13 at the Lied Center of Kansas.
Members of the media wishing to attend this program are required to contact Jackson DeAndrea at jackson.deandrea@ku.edu to make arrangements.
In honor of America at 250, Atkinson will join Audrey Coleman, Dole Institute director, to discuss his career and work process, the legacy of World War II, the historian’s craft in the 21st century and his new book, “The Fate of the Day,” the second of The Revolution Trilogy.
The annual lecture commemorates the date on which Sen. Bob Dole was critically wounded while serving in Italy during World War II. To honor his courageous recovery and commitment to serve the nation, the institute welcomes a guest who embodies the commitments that Dole held throughout his career in public service.
The program, held in partnership with the Watkins Museum of History and the Lawrence Public Library, will include a book signing opportunity for guests. A free ticket is required to attend the program. Tickets will be available online beginning at 10 a.m. March 24.
Atkinson has authored eight narrative histories spanning five American wars. His most recent book, “The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780,” debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. It joins the earlier bestseller “The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777” as part of his Revolution Trilogy, which chronicles the events that unfolded during the American Revolutionary War.
He previously wrote the Liberation Trilogy, a narrative history of the Allied campaign to liberate Europe in World War II. The first volume, “An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943,” received the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in history. The second and third volumes in the trilogy, “The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944” and “The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945,” were both New York Times bestsellers, with “The Guns at Last Light” reaching No. 1.
Atkinson’s additional works include “The Long Gray Line,” a narrative saga on the United States Military Academy class of 1966; “Crusade,” a history of the Persian Gulf War; and “In the Company of Soldiers,” which chronicles Atkinson’s time embedded with the 101st Airborne Division, led by General David H. Petraeus, during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Throughout his career, Atkinson has been honored for his work as both a historian and journalist. In addition to receiving the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in history, he also received the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, and was part of the Washington Post team awarded the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for public service.
His other honors include the 1989 George Polk Award for national reporting, the 1989 John Hancock Award for excellence in business writing, the 2003 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award, the 2007 Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, the 2015 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award and the 2020 George Washington Prize for the year’s best work on the American founding era, among others.
Atkinson began his journalism career in 1976 writing for The Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kansas. He joined the The Kansas City Times in 1977, and moved to The Washington Post in 1983. During his two decades at the Post, he served as a reporter, foreign correspondent, bureau chief, assistant managing editor and senior editor. His reporting covered Germany and NATO, conflicts in Somalia and Bosnia, the 101st Airborne during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007.
Born in Munich, Germany, Atkinson is the son of a U.S. Army officer and grew up on military posts. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from East Carolina University, and a Master of Arts degree in English literature from the University of Chicago. He and his wife, Dr. Jane Chestnut Atkinson, of Lawrence, live in Washington, D.C.
Detailed information for this program can be found at doleinstitute.org. This program is open to the public and requires a free ticket to attend, and also can be streamed live on the institute’s website and YouTube channel.
About the Dole Institute
The Dole Institute of Politics promotes a new era of leadership that uses politics to bring people together through opportunities that emphasize bipartisan cooperation, public service, and civic education and engagement, inspired by the leadership legacies of Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole and the enduring civic contributions of the Greatest Generation.