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Acknowledgments I first discovered anarchism as a political theory in a high school philosophy class with Tom Murray. As an undergraduate at Haverford College, I deepened my exploration of the topic working with two fine historians, Jane Caplan and Sharon Ullman. From the moment of my arrival for graduate study at the University of California at Davis, Bill Hagen was a source of constant intellectual stimulation in the realms of social theory and German history (and would have been with jazz piano, if I had proved receptive). Thanks to his penetrating critiques of my dissertation over the entire course of its development , the foundation for this book is much sturdier than it would otherwise have been. Along with theoretical and practical guidance, Bill was also a source of pithy advice (the bon mot to which I have tried most diligently to adhere is “never quote anything boring”). The other members of my dissertation committee, Cathy Kudlick and Ted Margadant, offered astute comments about structure, style, and argument (Cathy’s advice to “prune your prose!” continues to ring in my ears), as well as valuable comparative observations from their vantage point as historians of France. I am grateful as well for the insights and support of many other faculty, fellow graduate students, and support staff at UC Davis. On the long road from dissertation to book, I received feedback and advice from many quarters, which has improved the quality of the final work—the customary disclaimer that the remaining failings are mine alone certainly applies here. My companion in anarchism-related research, Richard Bach Jensen, has been the source of several invaluable leads on sources, as well as stimulating conversation and support. Rick has shown a rare generosity of spirit in reading my essays, sharing his own, and allowing me to draw on his near-encyclopedic knowledge of the history of anarchist crime and its policing. I also appreciate the many scholars who have provided constructive criticism on various aspects of this project over the years, including Celia Applegate, Roger Chickering, and Nancy Reagin at a Transatlantic Doctoral Seminar in German History in Berlin; Martin Geyer, Thomas Lindenberger, and Eric Weitz at a Transatlantic Summer Institute in German History sponsored by the Center for German and European Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; the graduate student attendees at these workshops, many of whom are now distinguished historians; Michael Hughes, Vernon Lidtke, William Smaldone, and George S. Williamson, who commented on and discussed with me conference papers related to the book; and James Retallack, who x Acknowledgments offered perceptive criticism and very helpful leads on archival sources. I have been fortunate to receive wise counsel (as well as friendship) on many occasions from Andy Rotter, as well as my colleagues in the St. Lawrence University History Department, including Judith DeGroat, Evelyn Jennings, and Liz Regosin. Leah Farrar, one of the most talented and hard-working students I have ever encountered, was an excellent research assistant . I appreciate the support for this project shown by Amy Farranto, my editor at NIU Press, who has guided me through the process of review and revision for longer than either of us expected at the beginning. The team at NIU Press, under managing editor Susan Bean, has made turning a manuscript into a book as smooth as it could be, and copyeditor Marlyn Miller’s good judgment and amazing attention to detail have been invaluable. I have benefited from universally helpful library and archive staff throughout the research and writing of this book. This work would have been much harder without the interlibrary loan staff of UC Davis’s Peter J. Shields Library and St. Lawrence University ’s Owen D. Young Library. Archivists and librarians at many institutions patiently helped me navigate their collections: the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin; the Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde, the Brandenburgisches Landes­ hauptarchiv in Potsdam; the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; the Landesarchiv Berlin; the Archiv und Bibliothek der Sozialdemokratie at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Bonn; the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich; the Deutsche Bücherei in Leipzig; and the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. Just as valuable has been the financial support that kept my research going. I gratefully acknowledge the support of the St. Lawrence University Academic Dean’s Office for a Faculty Research Fellowship Award and three Scholarly Development Awards, as well as the SLU History Department’s Vilas Research Fund, which made several research trips possible. I received funding at earlier stages of...

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