Читать книгу Conservatism - Edmund Neill - Страница 5

I was warned by a number of people that writing a short book, particularly on a large topic, is much harder than it looks – and so it proved. However, I was fortunate to be sustained in the process by friends and colleagues throughout the process. I would like to take the opportunity here to thank three particularly influential teachers, who in their different ways I have found genuinely inspirational: Professor Janet Coleman, Professor Jose Harris and Professor Michael Freeden. All three of them possess minds that are not merely immensely learned, but genuinely intellectually original. Apart from them, I would like to thank the following for their advice, friendship, and intellectual acuity: Michael Bacon, Callum Barrell, Dean Blackburn, Chris Brooke, Sarah Churchwell, John Davis, Hannah Dawson, Blake Ewing, Stephen Farrall, Dev Gangjee, John Gibbins, Lawrence Goldman, Naomi Goulder, Stuart Jones, Paul Lewis, Suzannah Lipscomb, Catherine Marshall, David Mitchell, Terry Nardin, Kieron O’Hara, Noel O’Sullivan, David Owen, Estelle Paranque, Joanne Paul, Mike Peacey, Jaya Savige, Christoph Schuringa, Nikita Sud, Tim Waters, Kevin Williams and Brian Young.

Particular thanks too must go to Iain Hampsher-Monk and Nicholas Cole who provided generous advice and guidance on the eighteenth century, though it must be stressed that any errors remaining are my responsibility alone.

My editor George Owers was very patient with my delays, but more to the point was an assiduous and acute reader. He also deserves considerable thanks for picking three anonymous readers of the manuscript who were encouraging but also constructively critical, in exactly the way that anonymous readers should be. They have undoubtedly improved the book, and I would have taken up even more of their suggestions if the number of words available had been greater. They have certainly given me plenty of interesting food for thought for future projects, and I am very grateful to them.

Last but not least my mother Heather, my late father Edward and my brother Greg have always supported my intellectual endeavours, even when times were tough (as they can be in academia). However, this book certainly could not have been written without the help of my partner Stefan Demetriou, who provided the very desk it was written on, but also much other support besides. The least I can do is to dedicate it to him.