Reception: 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. CT | Event: 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. CT

This event is free and open to the public. Register today to join us in person or to view the event online.

In honor of America's upcoming 250th anniversary, join The National WWII Museum for a special presentation from Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author Rick Atkinson.

In his lecture The Two Greatest Generations: From the American Revolution to World War II, Atkinson compares and contrasts two cohorts of “Greatest Generations” in America, examining how each was shaped by different historical moments yet ultimately united by a shared commitment to something larger than themselves. The lecture explores their willingness to sacrifice and struggle for one another and for the nation, as well as their enduring belief that some ideals are worth dying for. Placing these generations within a 250-year continuum, Atkinson argues that Providence has repeatedly provided the country with great generations—able and willing to do what is necessary to keep the nation moving forward.

For additional information, please email Connie Gentry, Conference and Programs Manager, at connie.gentry@nationalww2museum.org.

About the Featured Speaker

Rick Atkinson is the best-selling author of the Liberation Trilogy, a narrative history of the US military’s role in the liberation of Europe in World War II. The trilogy consists of An Army at Dawn (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History), The Day of Battle, and The Guns at Last Light. Atkinson has also published the first two volumes in his Revolution Trilogy, The British Are Coming and The Fate of the Day. His other books include The Long Gray Line, In the Company of Soldiers, and Crusade. Atkinson is the recipient of two additional Pulitzer Prizes for journalism, the George Polk Award, the 2010 Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing, and the 2022 American Spirit Award from The National WWII Museum. He holds a master’s degree in English literature from the University of Chicago. He worked as a reporter, foreign correspondent, and senior editor at the Washington Post before becoming a full-time book author. Atkinson served as the Gen. Omar N. Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership at the US Army War College and sits on The National WWII Museum’s Presidential Counselors advisory board.