i would love to read a book about charles wilson peale, the philadelphia painter, who was into everything. you talk about the kind of 18th century enthusiast who was a painter and tinker with mechanic canical devices, an inventor, an arc yoilings, a soldier, a politician. he was everything and he wrote wonderful letters and kept a great diary. he knew everybody. the idea of doing someone who isn't a politician, who isn't a general or a soldier appeals to me. host: no interest in the present? i mean in your lifetime? guest: no. host: no more harry truman? guest that's not quite the present. i think i'll stay in the 18th century. i really like it there and i'm starting to know everybody and i like the change, i like the literature, i like the art, i like the architecture very much. host: how did you get to know henry knox. guest: through his letters. host: where did you find them? guest: they're in a variety of places. most of them were at the morgan library in new york. they're now at the new york historical society. but the diary of his trek with the guns from ticonderoga, which i've repr