Fully back into the grind of things--lectures, advising, tests (yes students have a test in the first week of semester--they've known this requirement since July), etc. They seem alert and interested, but we'll see how they feel by mid semester.

The summer went really well. I did very good work in the first half of the summer--wrote three of the seven chapters of my new book (about 25,000 words), plus I am really pleased with what I wrote. So this was a good foundation for what I am doing this semster which is gathering more material and more data so that I can finsih the entire manuscript by the end of my sabbatical which I am taking in the coming semester. My contract with WW Norton specifies a complete manuscript by April 30, 2012. I am sure I shall meet this deadline.

Karen and I left for London in the middle of July and stayed there in an apartment on Bloomsbury St. (you can't be more central!). We had a great time, did research in the British Library, went out for walks, visited our old haunts in London(we'd lived there for many years in the 1970s and 1980s), ate at great restaurnats, saw three West End showws (We will Rock You is highly recommended, and 'Yes Prime Minister' is hilarious), and most importantly met with dear friends of long standing--Avi and Gwyn Shlaim, Tony and Jan King and Karen's best friend when we were undergraduates, Yvonne Bristow.

After London, we flew to Copenhagen and with our very good Oxford friends, Marak and Anna Dollar took a Baltic sea cruise. That was a first for me--I'd never been on a cruise. And it ended up being a nice experience. I saw cities that I had not seen before (Tallin is a truly charming small city, and the Old town in Stockholm is very beautiful). We had two days in St. Petersberg, but in the absence of a Russian visa we were tied to official tours. Our visit to the Hermitage was as chaotic as I've ever experienced. I focused more on not being crushed by the colliding multitude than on enjoying the artistic treasures of the world famous museum. As for the ship it was very comfortable and had great restaurants. However, I did find it confining, and had it not been for the Dollars, with whom we had a very, very nice time, I wonder what my reactions would have been.

Anyway, we're back in Oxford and among the students. Things are going well. We are happy and healthy and we're very much looking forward to our sabbatical.

Till the next posting