Rick Atkinson Fate's Reading List

"As a young teen discovered the enchantment of books like The Complete Sherlock Holmes."

"Reading William L. Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich when I was about 15 put ideas in my head."

"Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light, the final volume of her dazzling trilogy about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII. I read it very slowly before bedtime while writing, hoping for inspiration."

"I find it extraordinary that White had trouble getting the thing published."

"John Hersey's Hiroshima. It's short."