History is about origins, transformations and outcomes. But the outcomes are always temporary or even false. Historians who write on topics of contemporary concern consequently face obvious dangers when they assume that a trend is over, granting them a licence to pontificate. It is therefore best to admit at the outset that I fell prey to a minuscule amount of moralising possibly excusable in light of the intense and to me disturbing political and ideological academic exchanges of the last thirty years. But in general I hope readers will agree that I am primarily interested in understanding events in accordance with the conventional rules of historical practice.

In composing this work, drawing together materials from many locations, revisiting arguments in the light of recent developments, comparing early and later thoughts and trying to absorb the insights and learning of valued colleagues from many countries, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had more origins than I at first imagined. The chapters tell all, but a short list can be added here. I am clearly concerned about the origins of a way of thinking about universities that is, even in its denial, permanent; about a species of creature called an ‘undergraduate’; about market discipline as a concept, a fact and a method of historical inquiry; about failure, not just the absence of success but a lingering sense of inadequacy and how universities have contributed to both.