Stefan Collini is Professor Emeritus of Intellectual History and English Literature at Cambridge University and Fellow of the British Academy. He is a frequent contributor to the London Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, Guardian, and the Nation, and he has been described by a reviewer as “one of Britain’s finest essayists and writers.” Other works include Common Writing: Essays on Literary Culture and Public Debate, What Are Universities For?, Absent Minds: Intellectuals in Britain, and English Pasts: Essays in History and Culture.