William D. Rubinstein is one of the leading economic and social historians of this generation. He was Professor of History at the University of Aberystwyth between 1995 and 2011, and is now an adjunct professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He was previously Professor of Social and Economic History at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, of the Australian Academy of the Social Sciences, and of the Royal Historical Society.