Award-winning narrator Grover Gardner joins AudioFile’s Michele Cobb to tell listeners about narrating one of our picks for Best Nonfiction & Culture audiobooks of 2025: Rick Atkinson’s Revolutionary War epic, THE FATE OF THE DAY: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780.

Gardner shares how he kept the energy up in this sprawling account of the second installment of Atkinson’s Revolutionary War trilogy, which takes place just after the Battle of Trenton. Together they discuss various challenges, especially when narrating Atkinson's unique use of lists, and how impressive it was to understand the enormous, and still timely task, of winning our independence.

Read AudioFile’s review of the audiobook: Published by Random House Audio

AudioFile’s 2025 Best Nonfiction & Culture Audiobooks are:

• DARK RENAISSANCE by Stephen Greenblatt, read by Edoardo Ballerini

• THE FATE OF THE DAY by Rick Atkinson, read by Grover Gardner and the author

• FOOD FOR THOUGHT written and read by Alton Brown

• MOTHER EMANUEL by Kevin Sack, read by William DeMeritt

• ORIGINAL SINS by Eve L. Ewing, read by Robin Miles, Eve L. Ewing

• WE THE PEOPLE written and read by Jill Lepore

Explore the full list of 2025 Best Audiobooks on our website.

Support for our podcast comes from Dreamscape, an award-winning audiobook publisher with a catalog that includes authors L.J. Shen, Freida McFadden, and Katee Robert. Discover your next great listen at dreamscapepublishing.com.

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