Before you lies a publication that is the fulfilment of a long-cherished dream of the University of Groningen (UG) to have an up-to-date, concise and smoothly written book on the history of this university. It is an interesting read for anyone who is connected with the UG, but it has been written in particular for international students, staff members, visitors and other interested parties.

When getting to know and understand someone, an effective method is to learn about important details from their past. This is also true, mutatis mutandis, with regard to organizations and institutions. How and why has something become what it eventually is? What makes something unique? What are its red flags, idiosyncrasies, achievements and failures? What elicits pride but perhaps also shame? Can an essential core be identified?

The authors Klaas van Berkel and Guus Termeer have succeeded outstandingly in answering these questions. The task could not have been fulfilled better by anyone else. Van Berkel is a renowned Dutch historian and professor. As the author of a three-volume standard work on the history of Groningen's university, he is the expert par excellence on this subject. Termeer, who wrote the sections on the university's twentieth-century history, is uniquely equipped to provide his vision on UG's most recent decades given his involvement as a former editor-in-chief of the university newspaper the UK and a coordinator/organizer of Studium Generale activities.

I find the most valuable historical works to be those that conjure ‘a historical experience’ for me. I have always enjoyed absorbing interesting facts and intelligent interpretations – in brief, the story that has been composed. But what I also look for is insight, often in the form of epiphanies, that shows that I’ve understood something fully. This ‘eureka’ moment came for me in this book when I realized: Of course, now I understand it! That is why the centre of a beautiful, medium-sized city in the northern Netherlands houses such a venerable, old and classic university that belongs among the top 100 universities worldwide! That is why so many international students and researchers choose to pursue their academic interests here! That is why there is so much interdisciplinary collaboration and why the university is characterized by such short lines of communication!

I wish you many similar insights but also just as much pleasure as I had reading the text and looking at the beautiful illustrations.