Argall: The True Story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith Argall: The True Story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith Argall is a historical novel by American writer William T. Vollmann, which was first published in 2001. It is the third book in a planned seven-book cycle entitled . (As of 2015, five of the seven books have been published.) "Argall" is a retelling of the founding of the Jamestown Colony and the legend of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. The novel is primarily written in flowery Elizabethan language, which was met with mixed critical reception; "The New York Times" found the language "endlessly distracting and often silly", whereas the
Historical figure historical figure in fiction must not 'do things' its model did not do in real life; it follows that historical figures can be used only in very limited ways." The author of a traditional historical novel should therefore focus more on the people who have been lost to history. A novelist such as Sir Walter Scott or Leo Tolstoy ("War and Peace") would describe historical events accurately. They would give rein to their imagination only in scenes that were not significant historically, when interactions with fictional characters could safely be introduced. More recently, however, starting with works such as "The