Historian, author, and Rocky Neck resident Richard Rosenfeld, whose book American Aurora: A Democratic-Republican Returns was named “Best History Book” by the Los Angeles Times in 1997, challenges a centuries-old understanding of where Anglo-American democracy began. Starting with Thomas Jefferson’s 1776 proposal for the Great Seal of the United States—which honored the Saxon leaders Hengist and Horsa as founders of England’s democratic traditions—Rosenfeld argues that Jefferson and generations of historians got the story wrong. This thought-provoking lecture offers a fresh perspective on the origins of democratic government and previews a presentation Rosenfeld will deliver at University of Cambridge this fall.

This event is a Culture Splash signature event and is free to the public.