Acknowledgments
While it is generally accurate that a monograph is, first and foremost, the product of hard personal toil, it is equally accurate that, in many respects, it is also a collective endeavour. Without the assistance, remarks, suggestions, and encouragement of numerous individuals, this work would never have come into fruition. The central arguments of this book owe much to the lengthy conversations I have enjoyed over the past six years with Giancarlo Casale, Güneş Işıksel and Jan Hennings. Their invaluable input prompted me to radically rethink or (re)frame my research questions at critical junctures throughout the ‘writing-process journey’.
Given the complexity of a topic that requires expertise across various subfields, certain parts of the book could not have been completed without the inestimable help and guidance of Olga Katsiardi-Hering, Gábor Kármán, Natalia Królikowska–Jedlińska, Lovro Kunčević, Vedran Stojanović, Nikolas Pissis and Vigdis Evang. Moreover, I couldn’t provide a comprehensive account of the Congress of Carlowitz using material from every one of its multiple participants without the immense aid of Russian and Polish-speaking colleagues. Nikolas Pissis and Lana Martysheva assisted me with translating Russian sources and secondary bibliography, while Jan Blonski did the same with the Polish archival material and Natalia Królikowska–Jedlińska came eagerly to my succour with regard to the Carlowitz-related bibliography in Polish.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to the two anonymous reviewers whose critical remarks and suggestions helped considerably in improving the final text. Any deviation from their recommendations burdens me and me alone.
Last but not least, I would not have borne six years of sometimes stressful research and writing without the unconditional backing of my wife, Panagiota. She always stood by my side, patiently enduring my constant badgering to read every sentence, paragraph, or part of this book I deemed paramount, and spending countless hours listening to my thoughts and anxieties about the whole project while helping me to keep my spirits high. In a sense, this monograph belongs to her as much as it does to me.