A fictional historic romp of more than 60 famous and near-famous Americans whose famous and near-famous portraits crowd the walls of the 250-year old Redwood Library in Newport, Rhode Island. They gather there in groups to talk in the early hours before dawn. Conversationalists include U.S. Presidents and would-be Presidents, colonial governors, merchant princes, Indian chiefs, doctors, lawyers, writers, military heroes, and aristocrats among others including a Common Reader. They discuss 21 matters of universal interest such as war and memory; law, medicine and art; the written word and religion; dynasty and aristocracy; being in second place and unintended consequences.The author advises that all conversations were recorded on discs at the insistence of several former Redwood librarians whose portraits share the library's walls. All of the conversations now published for the first time were selected by an independent Editorial Committee and appear unredacted.