| dc.description.abstract | This volume began life as a conference on ‘Empty Spaces’ held at the
Institute of Historical Research in London in 2015, organized by the three
editors and a fourth colleague, Will Pooley (University of Bristol). Given
the enthusiasm generated by this event, and the clear value of gathering
together scholars with interests in spatial history, we have since collected
a number of papers originally presented in London, along with several
recently invited new chapters. In 2016 we organized a workshop at the
Institute of Historical Research to discuss the chapters and the implications
of our ongoing exploration of emptiness, of which this volume is the fruit.
Through each step of the process – from conference to workshop and
workshop to final publication – we have relied on the support of several
institutions and individuals. We thank the Institute of Historical Research
in the School of Advanced Study of the University of London for providing
the initial financial and administrative support along with the space within
which to carry out first the conference and then the workshop from which
this volume developed. We also thank the Historical Geography Research
Group of the Royal Geographical Society, the Department of History of
Vanderbilt University and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies
at University College London for financial support that underpinned the
initial conference. A Scouloudi Publication Award provided financial
support for the images included in this volume, while the College of Arts
and Humanities at University College Dublin contributed funding for
indexing.
In addition, we would like to thank Will Pooley of the University of
Bristol and Vanessa Rockel of the Institute of Historical Research for their
support and labour in helping to organize and administer the Empty Spaces
conference in 2015. We express gratitude to Lawrence Goldman, former
Director of the IHR, for his support of this project (along with our individual
research). We thank the two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped
us to mould this volume and our introduction. Julie Spraggon and Jane
Winters, in their roles as former and current Head of Publications at the
IHR, have offered tireless patience, support and knowledge in support of
this volume. Finally, we save our most hearty thanks for the contributors to
this volume whose hard work, rigorous research, skilful writing and endless
patience have made this volume possible. | |
