Brother Jonathan is an 1825 historical novel about the American
Revolution. Author John Neal (pictured) was considered one of America's
top novelists at the time. The story explores cross-cultural
relationships and highlights cultural diversity within the Thirteen
Colonies, stressing egalitarianism and challenging the conception of a
unified American nation. The book's sexual themes were explicit for the
period, addressing female sexual virtue and male guilt for sexual
misdeeds. Scholars praised Brother Jonathan's extensive and early use of
realism in depicting American culture and speech. It is Neal's longest
work and possibly the longest single work of American fiction until well
into the twentieth century. The editing process resulted in a number of
inconsistencies in the plot. A financial failure, it received mixed but
mostly warm reviews at the time. Readers of the twenty-first century are
generally unaware of the book, and many scholars consider it too complex
to be considered good.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Jonathan_%28novel%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1941:
Second World War: Free French and British forces (aircraft
pictured) began the Battle of Keren to capture the strategic town of
Keren in Italian East Africa.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Keren>
1953:
Hundreds of native creoles known as Forros were massacred on
São Tomé Island by the colonial administration and Portuguese
landowners.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batep%C3%A1_massacre>
2023:
A freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, releasing
hazardous materials into the surrounding area.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Ohio_train_derailment>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
cut the mustard:
(intransitive, idiomatic) To achieve the expected standard; to be
effective or good enough; to suffice.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cut_the_mustard>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The human soul has need of truth and of freedom of expression.
The need for truth requires that intellectual culture should be
universally accessible, and that it should be able to be acquired in an
environment neither physically remote nor psychologically alien.
--Simone Weil
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simone_Weil>
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