Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
This volume has been several years in the making and my thanks are due first and foremost to all of its contributors, whose readiness to become involved with the project created a vibrant and cohesive group dynamic from the outset. I am particularly grateful for the enthusiasm with which they agreed to contribute and which they continued to generate throughout the lengthy editing process. Thanks too for their patient cooperation in the face of my requests for revision, elision and reduction, cutting, pruning and redaction. Special thanks go to Laura Saetveit Miles and Elizabeth Robertson for stepping into the breach at very short notice following the withdrawal of two of the original contributors. They produced two very fine essays in an unreasonably short space of time, and with great professionalism and aplomb. I am also indebted to Caroline Palmer at Boydell and Brewer for first mooting the project to me over coffee some years ago – and then for having faith that it would come to timely fruition, in spite of the various delays and setbacks it has incurred since then. Finally, my gratitude, as ever, goes to my family, who have spent yet another summer plying me with coffee as I edit out commas and add semi-colons. Their continued interest in and support of my academic endeavours have made all the difference.