This book has taken a very long time to write. Not only because I have been distracted by many other tasks and projects, but also because it was such an enormous and daunting task, bedevilled by the ups and downs of life in general, and also the insecurities, challenges, and upsets of scholarly life. Through all of this, Roland Boer has been there, challenging me, supporting me, knowing that I had it in me, especially when I was certain that I didn’t. He has been with me to Herrnhut, to Bethlehem, to Halle, and listened to numerous conference papers on the topic, and has seen it all take shape, slowly.
I have worked on this book in our apartment in Newcastle, in my office at Humboldt University, Newcastle University, and the Australian National University in Canberra, where I have enjoyed the hospitality of Julia Wee and Natalie Cooke, as well as Alan and Robyn Cadwallader. I have written sections of the manuscript in my parents’ living room in Skodsborg, Pernille Østrem’s guestroom in Copenhagen, Käthe von Bose’s kitchen in Berlin, Gillian Townsley’s living room in Dunedin, Roland’s apartment in Beijing, in a former convent in Oslo, in the Widows’ House in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. And, of course, at the Komensky Gasthaus in Herrnhut, where I have stayed almost every time that I have been in Herrnhut these past nine years. I have loved visiting, sometimes for just a week, sometimes for six weeks, working in the archives, walking around in the woods, and enjoying a beer in the Hutberg Keller. I have always felt very welcome in this quiet corner of the world. Thank you to Olaf and Peter; and Jill and Peter for welcoming me into their homes. At the wonderful Archives of the Unitas Fratrum, where so much of the work for this book has been carried out, I have had great help and support from Rüdiger Kröger, Olaf Nippe, Claudia Mai, Frau Wagner-Fiebig and, last but not least, Frau Moreau, who can decipher absolutely everything and has generously proofread all my German transcriptions. Finally, the Zinzendorf society invited me to present this project in 2013, which had a profound effect on the subsequent shape and structure of the book.
The members of the Moravian scholarly community have also been very supportive, and I would like to thank Paul Peucker, Scott Paul Gordon, Katie Faull, Heidrun Homburg, Peter Vogt and Craig Atwood for sharing expertise and work. Paul Peucker has answered every single question I have ever sent him and I have benefited enormously from his expertise both in writing and in person. Paul and Scott have taken the time to read through earlier drafts of chapters and provided valuable feedback for which I am extremely grateful.
During my sojourn in Canberra, the Centre for European Studies was always a welcoming community, and I would like to thank everyone there, in particular Jacquie Lo, Annmarie Elijah, Jane Coultas, Kasia Williams, and Ivana Damjanovic.
At Copenhagen University, I would like to thank Nils Holger Petersen for reading through several chapters with sharp eyes, and his advice on matters big and small. Mette Birkedal Bruun invited me to present my work in her Solitudes project, and she, Kristian Mejrup, and Lars Nørgaard provided suggestions and helpful comments which pushed me further.
Friends and family have been supportive and provided welcome distractions. Since beginning this book, my world has been populated with a nephew and three step-grandchildren, all of whom bring much happiness and many laughs.
Finally, I would like to thank Simon Mussell for copy-editing and proofreading, and Peter Thomas and Danny Hayward at HM for taking this on, and the production team for being so patient with me.
August 2019
Christiansfeld