In his lengthy Mémoires d’outre-tombe, Chateaubriand described returning to Paris in the 1820s and reflecting on the personal significance of each building and street he encountered in the French capital: a house where he and his sister had spent their childhood; the Palace of Justice that recalled his trial; the prefecture of police where he had served a brief prison sentence. To walk the streets of the city was to revisit an intimate past and history marked by familiar architectural sites and monuments, each detail evoking a memory redolent of “the skein” of former days.
In certain ways, this books possesses a similar quality. It was written over numerous years and in various places along the way. Sections and chapters evoke specific times, people, and cities that are called to mind in the act of rereading. In completing this work, I feel obliged to express my sincere gratitude to those who made it possible.
The first draft of this work was written at the University of Virginia under the guidance of Lenard Berlanstein, who unfortunately passed away before its publication. Without his help and insightful commentary, this book would not have been completed.
I would also like to thank Sophia Rosenfeld at Yale University who oversaw the initial writing of this work in Charlottesville. Her continued advice and support since I left Virginia has been deeply appreciated.
In addition, I am grateful to Benjamin Martin, whose early involvement on this book while at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge has never been forgotten. Above all, he imparted to me the lesson that good historians must also be good writers.
I am also grateful to John Powers and the History Department of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Later chapters of this book were revised in the office provided for me while I was teaching at the university. The deep sense of the past that Richmond evokes in its streets and public monuments furnished an appropriate milieu for the writing of history. I am equally indebted to Johannes Paulmann and Irene Dingel at the Leibniz Institut für Europäische Geschichte (IEG) in Mainz. I can still recall evenings sitting at my desk and listening to the toll of the cathedral bells from the square as I worked on the pages of this manuscript. The IEG’s generous support during my nine-month stay in Germany provided a pleasant and stimulating atmosphere for the contemplation of the past while finishing this work. I would also like to express my thanks to Kevin Passmore and the History Department at Cardiff University where this book was completed. The department’s deep sense of collegiality has been much appreciated since my arrival in the United Kingdom.
The extended time I spent in France while conducting research for this book was invaluable and it would not have been possible without the support offered to me by the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and the University of Virginia.
I would also like to thank my family for their persistent support over the course of my education and career. Writing this book would certainly not have been possible without them.
Lastly, I would like to thank Lara for all her support and assistance. Her discerning comments and attention to detail have played an essential part in the completion of this book. Moreover, her fascination with the past and nostalgia for days that are not our own remain, as always, a continuous source of inspiration.