Yesterday I was trawling round the charity shops. The haul was one map and two books. Now one of the books was a hardback in mint condition, £2.50, original price £20.00. The author is Natalie Zemon Davis, a name new to me; the title is "Trickster Travels: in search of Leo Africanus sixteenth century Muslim between two worlds".
The name Leo Africanus was recognisable, some kind of Renaissance historian. That was it. I checked the inside back cover for information on the author, "one of the most influential historians alive". Get away! And I'd ever heard of her, but I had heard of one of her works, "The Return of Martin Guerre", which I thought had been written by a French academic. Wrong, James!
Looking inside I found a work very much to my taste; 270 pages of text, 102 pages of notes, a four-page glossary of Arabic terms, and a 27 page bibliography. That's a real scholarly work. The list of acknowledgements was longer than the Litany of the Saints, so many wise heads had helped in the period of incubation and creation, so many had pored over the finished text and nodded approval. This historical work comes with a guarantee (insofar as such is possible in the reconstruction of a life lived so long ago).
One acknowledgement - more, a dedication - engaged my curiosity and led me to search for an explanation.
I quote it.

"This book is dedicated to Chandler Davis in appreciation for his innumerable discussions with me about its themes and his tireless reading of drafts, and even more in tribute to all he has done over the decades to help our earth become a place where peoples can live together in peace. Whether travelling the globe or locked in a prison cell, he has never lost faith in a future in which, greed, violence and political repression might give ground to justice, negotiation and an unhindered quest for the truth."

Amen to that. I am lost in admiration for author and dedicatee, and I'm only on page 19.

Natalie Zemon Davis

Chandler Davis