Perspective

The author is a man of the later twentieth century and may still be living in the twenty-first century. He is a skilled researcher in the sense of the humanities. He is an adept writer. He writes from a definite American bias. The mode of personal expression within such a context is a bit different from how it might be in certain other types of books. He is a professional. He expresses himself primarily during the Introduction of the book and at the very end, in the chapter entitled "debts" which comes before the notes.

He is a grateful and diligent scholar. He has created the book as a married man and he enjoys this privileged position thoroughly. He acknowledges his wife's highly valued contribution to his success. He explains that while many others might have hired a slew of assistants, his wife took care of all of...