This book rises from the shoulders of many specialist studies and general global histories. But it is also a collaborative work in another sense. Moving from the Ottomans to late Qing China, I was more than aware that I was breaching disciplinary boundaries and academic protocols. My occasionally impudent forays were enabled by generous friends both in academia and outside it. They suggested books and papers and read my manuscript, alerting me to errors of fact and interpretation. Those that remain in the finished book should not be blamed on Tabish Khair, Jonathan Shainin, Ananya Vajpeyi, Manan Ahmad, Hussein Omar, Masoud Golsarkhi, Wang Hui, Suzy Hansen, Siddhartha Deb, Alex Travelli, Adam Shatz, Nader Hashemi, Jeff Kingston, Jason Epstein, Shashank Kela or Jeffrey Wasserstrom, all of whom read different parts of the work-in-progress and frankly expressed their opinions. I was also very fortunate to have such sceptical, challenging and well-informed editors as Simon Winder and Paul Elie. Gratitude is also due to the staff at the Bleibtreu Hotel, Berlin, where I started working on this book; the London Library, which supplied so many materials for it; and the Sharmas at Mashobra, who have afforded me, for two decades now, that vital sanctuary in which to write – and, more important, daydream.