This book has long been in preparation. My first sally into the field was my Ph.D. thesis, which took up the years 1957–61. I returned to the subject late in 1972 and completed the body of the book six years later. Remnants of the thesis, rethought and rewritten from scratch, are incorporated here in Part II (Chapters 4–7).

Over these extensive periods I have received help and encouragement, often far beyond the call of duty, from a very large number of people – academic colleagues, librarians, archivists, editors, secretaries, typists, photocopy workers. I remember the innumerable acts of goodwill and the work well done with feelings of deep gratitude. Unfortunately, I can only mention a small percentage here by name.

In the Cambridge years, I was guided wisely and generously by my teachers and friends: E. H. Carr, D. J. V. Fisher, Charles Wilson, Moses Finley, Maurice Cowling, and Betty Behrens. Denys Page, the late Master of Jesus College (where I was appointed a Fellow for the years 1960–3) also gave me his unflagging support in those early stages, as did Chimen Abramsky and Isaiah Berlin. Indeed, the idea of this work, which took shape in my mind while aboard ship on the Mediterranean in the summer of 1956, was perhaps first implanted by the report of a lecture in which Sir Isaiah discussed the Russian roots of the Yishuv.

As a Senior Fellow at Columbia University, I have invariably been made to feel at home.