Editor's Notebook

Et EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese±or those ofus with the most immediate responsibilitiesfor the Journal, especially Laura Crawley and myself, the appearance ofthefirst issue seems little short ofmiraculous, in part because wefrequently doubted that we could meet Lou Ferleger's deadlines, in part because we were so amazed to see it actually takingshape in the successive drafts ofthe cover and the layout. We have a special debt to the authors (Darryl Hart, Victor Hanson, Mark Smith, and Robert Wiebe) who entrusted their work to us and then met the stringent deadlines theproduction schedule imposed. That schedule kept us all hopping, but it more thanjustified thepain,for Marie Weisgerber and HyZhitnik ofBoston University's Office ofPublications Production exceeded our highest expectations in producing ajournal that is a pleasure to look at and to read. The second issue is taking shape, and we are assembling materials for those to follow. Thanks to the generous response of colleagues, the second issue will inaugurate discussion of some of the questions introduced in the first. Beginning with the second issue, we shall also inaugurate a section that will include papers from sessions at the national or regional meetings. And beginning with this issue or the next, we shall regularly publish a review essay per issue. In time, we also hope to feature a column that will review a specialized journal, published here or abroad, as a way of alerting our readers to engaging scholarship they could easily miss. During the first year or two, we shall, inevitably, experiment with the balance among different historical subjects and different genres of historical writing, including historical perspectives from other disciplines, notably literature, sociology, politics, and religion. And of course, pace Lou, economic history— on condition that our economists are willing to translate their numbers and equations into English. From the outset, we have been committed to fostering different kinds of historical work by scholars of varied historical subjects and perspectives, as well as at different stages of their careers. Initially, we had planned to promote these commitments through two journals, one primarily devoted to articles, the other primarily devoted to reviews, and to publish the review journal primarily, if not exclusively, on-line. Wc have discovered that we still lack the technological capability to produce the kind of high-quality, on-line review journal we envisioned. But what initially seemed a disappointment seems to be metamorphosing into the prowrbial blessing in disguise. The confrontation with our inability to field a full-scale review journal at this point brought home to us that we neither need nor want to take responsibility for reviewing all of the books that arc published each year. Indeed, by cheerfully leaving this responsibility to the more specialized historical journals, wc free ourselves to review the books that seem of special interest or importance to our members. We will inevitably miss some—and initially wc may miss many—books that wc would have wanted to review, and for this I apologize in advance. Here, as in every other aspect of this adwnturc, we shall need to get our sea legs. At present, we plan to handle book reviews in several different ways, each of which, we hope, will contribute to the sense of continuing conversation that we want the /onnid/ to foster. Within the next issue or two, we shall publish a review essay in each regular issue of the Journal. By next year, we shall add a fourth annual issue that will consist entirely of review essays. In addition, within the next issue or two of Historically Speaking, wc will introduce a section, "Catching My Fancy," in which we will publish "reviews" of about 100 words. These pieces arc not intended to provide reviews of record or even responsible coverage of the contents of a book. Rather, they are intended to call a book to the attention of our members and to say briefly—compellingly, insightfully, even seductively—why it is worth reading. Teasers rather than conventional reviews, the short entries will offer our members a way to tell others something about a book they consider especially thought-provoking or worth}· of attention. And the books they select may not only...