In addition to an article adapted from Joseph Ellis' His Excellency: George Washington, the latest issue of Smithsonian Magazine has two really interesting articles.
One deals with the implications of recent archaeological finds at Jamestown. Some are suggesting that the finds reveal a different picture of the one we were taught in school. This usual portrayal has it that the original Jamestown settlers were lazy opportunists, uninterested in and unaccustomed to working the land or fishing in nearby waters for food. We were taught that the settlers were so interested in finding gold that they neglected to take care of basic needs.
On the contrary, the archaelogical digs, it's said, show an industrious group of people who, in spite of their hard work, settled during one of the worst drought periods in history.
Another article profiles James Boswell, best known for his biography of Samuel Johnson. He was, as they probably would have said in his time, a complete cad. But with little apparent self-consciousness, he is credited for inventing the modern biography, as well as several other literary genres. It's interesting reading.
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