The Smithsonian Institution (novel)

The Smithsonian Institution
Cover of the first edition
AuthorGore Vidal
LanguageEnglish
PublisherLittle, Brown
Publication date
October 15, 1998
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages272 p.
ISBN0-316-64504-4
OCLC60211198

The Smithsonian Institution is an alternate history novel by Gore Vidal, first published in 1998.

The novel is a fictional account of the adventures of "T." as he helps a group of scientists in the basement of the Smithsonian create the neutron bomb, and encounters historical figures such as President Abraham Lincoln, Charles Lindbergh, Eleanor Roosevelt and Mrs. Grover Cleveland.

Reviewer Merle Rubin advises readers to "skip this" Vidal novel and "spend more profitable time rediscovering the many and varied pleasures of his earlier novels".