Nigel Thrift is Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Bristol. He has co-edited and co-authored numerous books; most recently "Writing the Rural: Five Cultural Geographies "and "Globalisation, Institutions and Regional Development in Europe". Thrift has three co-edited or co-authored books in press "The City of London and Social Power in Modern Britain"; "Diffusing Geography: Essays for Peter Hagget"; and "Mapping the Subject".