Welcome!

This blog takes you behind the scenes of the writing of an academic history book – like a ‘making of’ featurette. Its aim is to make visible the traditionally invisible process of what it’s like for a university academic in the Humanities to write a research monograph, i.e. a single-authored 100,00 word book.

I’m a History Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford, and the book I’m writing has a working title of The Elusive Church: Luther, Poland and the Early Reformation. This project is supported by a British Academy Mid Career Fellowship (2012-13).

On these pages, you'll find a regular 'log' of how the book is progressing, plus information about the project. I welcome your comments and thoughts - whether you're studying or teaching history at school or university, or writing non-fiction yourself...

Monday 26 August 2013

Weight

I’ve finally laboured to the end of Chapter 10 of the monograph. What I had envisaged as a light-touch, comparative, brief sketch of attitudes towards the Reformation around the courts of Europe has turned into the longest chapter in the entire book, currently weighing in at 45 pages.

So long as the chapter isn’t so long as to be boring (and the risk of reader boredom rises exponentially with every page), the main problem with a heavy-weight final chapter is that it might unbalance the book. I’ve always had a sense that writing a monograph is a bit like building a bridge, that you have be mindful of which sections are going to be the most load-bearing. It feels instinctively right to have a brief and arresting introduction, the meatiest chapters in the middle, and then (like an athlete) to give the reader a warm-down in the final chapter or so, a gentle descent towards the end. But readers of this book will find that, rather than limbering down with dignity, the MS as it stands revs up dramatically in the last chapter.

I currently feel that the book argument requires this, because the comparative material has to come at the end (after the Polish case-study has been presented), and it has have some minimum level of detail, precision and close argument in order to be convincing. I think readers don’t like being taken by surprise, however, so the introduction will have to flag up what the reading experience is going to be like, and what to expect when. Perhaps it should include a diagram, saying ‘this book is not like this’




‘But like this, less elegant but hopefully still exciting’...


10 comments:

  1. WHEN ALL HOPE IS LOST IN WINNING THE LOTTERY MEGAMILLION AND DEEPLY SWIMMING IN UNPAYABLE DEBTS, LOOSING YOUR FAMILY AND THE ONES YOU LOVE AROUND YOU TO AN ABJECT POVERTY CONTACT THE VOODOO SPELL CASTER FOR LOTTERY SPELL,CASINO GAMBLING SPELLS,WIN LOTTERY JACKPOT,EUROMILLION JAKPOT, WIN YOUR CASINO GAMLIN GAMES WITH THE HELP OF A SPELL CASTER DR.OGUDU


    My name is john from ENGLAND before i meet DR OGUDU i have been in frustrating debts for about 6 years i have did everything possible to pay my debts and live a normal happy life with my family and friends but to no avail, I have played lottery for more than 9 years but never win big always been mock about spending my little earns on tickets that does not yield result but i was very determined and never give up on myself with hopes of earning a better life with the megamillion games, The situation contiuned like this for about 8 years until i saw i heart touching testimonies of some many lottery winners who give all there vote of thanks and appreciation to DR OGUDU the lottery spell caster namely where BRYON STEWART, MARIE HOLMES, JULIE LEACK and more more others who he heard help in winning the lottery so i got his email and website online after deliberate thinking i decideed to give him a try by contacting him through his email address and website behold after my encounter with DR.OGUDU my first winning tickets after he gave me some numbers to see his powers on lottery spell i won FIVE MILLION POUNDS[5.000.000] My life have totally changed for good and many more which he have done for me too numerous to mention if you have tried winning the lottery but no results contact DR OGUDU for life changing tickets and lottery numbers now VIA EMAIL [OGUDUSPELLTEMPLE@YAHOO.COM] WHATSAPP NUMBER +2348106058254""WEBSITE_ http://oguduspelltemple.wixsite.com/drogudu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. i am very grateful sharing this great testimonies with you, The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how i win the lottery. I am a woman who believe that one day i will win the lottery.finally my dreams came through when i email PRIEST WISDOM  . and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until the day i meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, so i decide to give it a try.I contacted this man and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out i was among winners. i won $90.000  Dollar. PRIEST WISDOM truly you are the best, with these man you can win millions of money through lottery. i am so very happy to meet these man, i will forever be grateful Email him on Supernaturalspell1@gmail.com or WHATSAPP  or Call Via +2348124644470 










      i am very grateful sharing this great testimonies with you, The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how i win the lottery. I am a woman who believe that one day i will win the lottery.finally my dreams came through when i email PRIEST WISDOM  . and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until the day i meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, so i decide to give it a try.I contacted this man and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out i was among winners. i won $90.000  Dollar. PRIEST WISDOM truly you are the best, with these man you can win millions of money through lottery. i am so very happy to meet these man, i will forever be grateful Email him on Supernaturalspell1@gmail.com or WHATSAPP  or Call Via +2348124644470 










      i am very grateful sharing this great testimonies with you, The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how i win the lottery. I am a woman who believe that one day i will win the lottery.finally my dreams came through when i email PRIEST WISDOM  . and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until the day i meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, so i decide to give it a try.I contacted this man and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out i was among winners. i won $90.000  Dollar. PRIEST WISDOM truly you are the best, with these man you can win millions of money through lottery. i am so very happy to meet these man, i will forever be grateful Email him on Supernaturalspell1@gmail.com or WHATSAPP  or Call Via +2348124644470 

      .......

      Delete
    2. Dr. Sambo cast a spell for me per my request. I bought a lottery ticket the day you cast my spell. Guess What guys? I hit 4 of 6 and won 7,000.000.00 Dollars! Then I received a letter from the hospital stating that the $ 7,000.00 bill I owed was settled .I want you to know that, your lottery spell have make me to win millions of dollars. Then a week later I won 5000.000.00 thousand dollars,Thank you Dr Sambo for your genuine spell. Am very grateful for what your wonderful lottery numbers did for me, i own a house and a car right now. Am free from debts.thank you for casting the lottery spell for me. I was trying to settle a job action and after the lottery winning spell you did, I received a settlement. I am now self employed. If you are at there looking for a real and a genuine spell caster,search NO MORE. Dr.Sambo is there to help you to win and be rich forever.contact him via his Email: divinespellhome@gmail.com Whats , App. him now +1(267)527-9481 

      Delete
  2. I'm Olivia Megan from United State,I'm happy that my husband is back into my life after 2 years of divorce, Dr.AKHERE brought my husband back today and i am so excited. I got DR AKHERE email online when a lady was testifying about the strong spell caster who restored her marriage then I said to myself since he helped her, he can also help me,so i emailed him and told him the pain that I was going through,and he told me what to do and i did it,Then he did an urgent Love spell for me. 48 hours later, my husband came back home and with lots of love and joy,and he apologized for his mistake,and for the pain he caused me. Then from that day,our marriage was now stronger than how it were before, All thanks to DR AKHERE. Our family is complete again. If you are going through Divorce/Broke-up since DR AKHERE helped me, he can also help you..email him at: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com ,Thank you DR AKHERE for saving my broken Marriage and brought my husband back to me.
    Email him: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
    or
    call/whatsapp:+2349057261346

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello viewers around the Globe, I was despondent because i had a very small penis, about 2.5 inches soft and 4 inches hard not nice enough to satisfy a woman, i have been in so many relationship, but cut off because of my situation, i have used so many product which doctors prescribe for me, but none could offer me the help i searched for. i saw some few comments on the internet about this specialist called Dr, OLHIA and i decided to contact him on his {oliha.miraclemedicine@gmail.com} so I decided to give his herbal product a try. i emailed him and he got back to me, he gave me some comforting words with his herbal pills for Penis Enlargement, Within 3 week of it, i began to feel the enlargement of my penis, " and now it just 4 weeks of using his products my penis is about 9 inches longer, and i had to settle out with my Ex girlfriend Ella, i was surprised when she said that she is satisfied with my sex and i have got a large penis. Am so happy, thanks to Dr OLIHA I also learn that Dr OLIHA also help with Breast Enlargement Hips and Bums Enlargement etc.. If you are in any situation with a little Penis, weak ejaculation, small breast_hips_bums do get to Dr OLIHA now for help on his email {oliha.miraclemedicine@gmail.com} or whats app him number: +2349038382931

    ReplyDelete
  4. i am very grateful sharing this great testimonies with you, The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how i win the lottery. I am a woman who believe that one day i will win the lottery.finally my dreams came through when i email PRIEST WISDOM  . and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until the day i meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, so i decide to give it a try.I contacted this man and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out i was among winners. i won $90.000  Dollar. PRIEST WISDOM truly you are the best, with these man you can win millions of money through lottery. i am so very happy to meet these man, i will forever be grateful Email him on Supernaturalspell1@gmail.com or WHATSAPP  or Call Via +2348124644470 

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dr. Sambo cast a spell for me per my request. I bought a lottery ticket the day you cast my spell. Guess What guys? I hit 4 of 6 and won 7,000.000.00 Dollars! Then I received a letter from the hospital stating that the $ 7,000.00 bill I owed was settled .I want you to know that, your lottery spell have make me to win millions of dollars. Then a week later I won 5000.000.00 thousand dollars,Thank you Dr Sambo for your genuine spell. Am very grateful for what your wonderful lottery numbers did for me, i own a house and a car right now. Am free from debts.thank you for casting the lottery spell for me. I was trying to settle a job action and after the lottery winning spell you did, I received a settlement. I am now self employed. If you are at there looking for a real and a genuine spell caster,search NO MORE. Dr.Sambo is there to help you to win and be rich forever.contact him via his Email: divinespellhome@gmail.com Whats , App. him now +1(267)527-9481 

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello everyone this is a great testimony that I must share. I never believed in spells or magic not until I met Dr. Ogala My life is back !!! After 3 years of broken marriage, my wife left me with two children. I almost killed myself, I was emotionally broken down. Thanks to a spell caster called Dr Ogala who I met online. One faithful day while browsing the internet, I came across a lot of testimonials about this particular caster. Some people testified that he brought their ex-lover back, others testified that he restored their uterus, cured cancer and other diseases, others testified that he could cast a spell to stop the divorce. I also come across one particular testimony, it was from a woman called Sonia, she testified about how he brought her Ex lover back in less than 2 days, and at the end of her testimony she dropped his email (Drogalad02@gmail.com). After reading all of these testimonials, I decided to give it a try. I contacted him via his email and explained my problem to him. In just 48 hours, my wife came back to see me. We have solved our problems, and we are even happier than before, Dr Ogala is truly a talented man, I am not going to stop posting it because he is a wonderful man. If you have a problem and are looking for a real solution and a real spell caster to solve all your problems for you, contact Dr Ogala with his powers He can turn your dreams into reality.
    .................................
    IT CAN ALSO HELP YOU WITH:
    1. Bring your boyfriend or girlfriend back
    2. Bring back your husband or wife
    3. Win the lottery and promotion in the offices
    4. Help you get pregnant, if you need a baby
    5. Complete Cure Of Any Kind of Sickness contact him now through: Drogalad02@gmail.Com.. you can Call/WhatsApp with this mobile number +2347049668119 ..

    ReplyDelete

  7. Good day everybody, This is my testimony on how i won $4,200,201 million I want to use this opportunity to thank Great JOHN for helping me to win the lottery of $4,200,201 million dollars on Mega millions lottery ticket. I have been playing the lottery for the past 6 years now and I have never won. Ever since then I have not been able to win and I was so upset and I needed help to win the lottery. So I decided to go online and search for help, there i saw so many good testimonies about this man called Great JOHN of how he has cast lucky spell lotto for people to win the lottery. I contacted him also and told him I want to win a lottery, he cast a spell for me which I use and I played and won $4,200,201 million dollars. I am so grateful to this man, just in-case you also need him to help you win, you can contact him through his email: Drjohnwinlotterspell@gmail.com, WhatsApp number: +1 (803) 820 2671 ..

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dr Amber is a life saver!

    I admire the work of DR AMBER who uses his spells for good. I am a winner of $200,000.00 dollars today because of his lottery spell and I am very grateful to him for helping me and my family by giving me the right number to play the lottery and If you need his help on anything, you can call/text him with +1 (808) 481-5132 or email: amberlottotemple@yahoo.com or you go to his webpage: https://amberlottotemple.com

    ReplyDelete