Elizabeth B. Samet,"Military Metamorphoses," TNR, 31 December, recommends Ovid.

Blake Gopnik,"Blake Gopnik at the Corcoran," Washington Post, 26-30 December, features Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin's"The Scullery Maid", Gerard ter Borch's portraits of Maria and Gerhard van Suchtelen, Thomas Gainsborough's Lord and Lady de Dunstanville, Eugene Carriere's"Arsene Carriere", and the Mantel Room's Renaissance mantel.

Rosemarie Zagarri,"The people take a chance on a new form of government," Washington Post, 26 December, reviews Pauline Maier's Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788.

Have a look at the North American English Dialects Map. Its remarkable detail is fascinating.