I am grateful to my editor Simon Winder and to James Pullen – my agent at The Wylie Agency, whose contribution to this book went much beyond the call of duty. Ruth Pietroni and Richard Duguid saw it through the press. Bela Cunha, the queen of copy-editors, agreed to emerge from partial retirement to work – with her characteristic mixture of rigour and sympathy – on my behalf. Cecilia MacKay was extremely helpful in finding the pictures. I also owe particular thanks to C. Clark Kissinger and Matti Salmi, who not only granted me permission to use photographs they had taken but also went out of their way to provide information. Mikko Pyhälä amd Juho Saksholm gave valuable help in locating a photograph.
Stuart Aveyard, James Bjork, Chris Dillon, Sarah Howard, Tom Kelsey, Dan Matlin, Chris Machut, Helen Parr and Maggie Scull read all or parts of this book and I am grateful for the useful advice that they gave, as I am grateful for the insights that have come from the students I have taught over the last twenty-five years at Kings’s College London. Lisa Bald and Rosie Germain let me read their important unpublished work.
Most of all, I am grateful to my family – to my parents, my sister Katie, my brother-in-law Richard, and to my children Emma and Alexander. Alison Henwood read the whole book in draft but my debts to her, as ever, extend to matters way beyond this practical help and beyond anything that I could put into words.