I started this project in 2016–2017 when I was EURIAS (European Institutes for Advanced Study) Senior Fellow at the Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies (FRIAS), but I could not then work out how best to present my argument. Conversations with Neil Walker in the spring of 2019 while I was a MacCormick Fellow at the University of Edinburgh helped, but it was only during the successive lockdowns of 2020 that I was finally able to sketch an acceptable draft. Neil kindly commented on that draft, as did Signe Larsen, Yaniv Roznai, and Samuel Tschorne, three former doctoral students who are now embarked (albeit at different stages) on highly successful academic careers. I have continued to learn from them and remain indebted to all four for their insights and critical feedback. I also thank the EURIAS / Marie Skłodowska Curie programme, FRIAS, the Edinburgh Law School, and, of course, my home institution, the Law Department at the London School of Economics, for the invaluable support I’ve received over this period.
Two reviewers commissioned by Harvard University Press produced reports that helped considerably to improve the book. I am especially grateful to Joseph Pomp, my editor at the Press, who immediately saw the book’s potential and has throughout been an unwavering source of guidance and critical editorial support. Finally, I am once again indebted to Chris Foley for helping to turn my stilted academic prose into something a little more readable.