Traditionally, the term boundary applies to the demarcation between a physical place and another physical place, most commonly associated with lines on a map As the essays in this volume demonstrate, however, a boundary can also function in a more broadly conceptual manner. A boundary becomes not an "imaginary line" but a tool for thinking about how to separate any two elements, whether ideas, events, etc., into categories by which they become comprehensible and distinct. The scholar contributors seek not simply to discern the boundaries, but, and perhaps more importantly, to understand the...

In 1975, a group of Dutch and British scholars published a conference volume of collected essays entitled Some Political Mythologies. That conference sought to examine the political myth as an object of historical study, particularly in the context of the tumultuous and exceptional history of the Low Countries. Thirty years later, a more diverse group of scholars gathered to re-examine the history of Dutch myth-making in light of developments in theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding the role of myths in national identity, moral geography, and community formation....

It seems undeniable that Jan de Vries has cast an indelible impression upon the field of early modern economic history. With his rejection of traditional models that left pre-industrial Europe with little to no role to play in modern development, de Vries' work has laid claim to the rich significance of the early modern period as the birth of the contemporary West. Culminating in The Industrious Revolution: Consumer Behavior and the Household Economy 1650 to the Present (2008), his work has changed the way scholars conceptualize and study this dynamic period, as the contributors in...