Rick Atkinson Comes to Bentonville for a Free Afternoon on the American Revolution

Rick Atkinson has won the Pulitzer Prize three times, written nine books about American wars, and spent two decades at the Washington Post. Now he’s coming to Bentonville, and you can get a seat at the table for free.

THE DEETS

📅 Thursday, May 28, 2026
🕑 12:00 PM–1:30 PM
📍 Bentonville Public Library – Walmart Foundation Community Room, Bentonville, AR
🎟️ Free to attend
🔗 More Info

The Book on the Table

Atkinson’s latest, The Fate of the Day, is the second volume in his American Revolution trilogy and a #1 New York Times bestseller. It covers the war’s middle years, the grinding stretch where the outcome was far from settled. If your sense of the Revolution stops at Lexington and Concord, this is the book that fills in the rest.

Your Host for the Afternoon

The conversation will be led by Kyle Kellams of KUAF’s Ozarks at Large. Kellams is a familiar voice for a lot of NWA listeners, and his interview style tends toward real dialogue over scripted Q&A. You can expect the kind of back-and-forth that actually goes somewhere.

Why Bentonville

The Bentonville Public Library is one of only two locations in Arkansas chosen to host this year’s “If All Arkansas Read the Same Book” event, a statewide community read program run in partnership with the Arkansas State Library. Two Friends Bookstore will be on-site with copies of The Fate of the Day and other Atkinson titles, and there will be a signing after the conversation. Getting a front-row seat to that is worth the lunch break.