Laurence Brockliss was born in London and educated at the University of Cambridge. He was a lecturer in history at the University of Hull from 1974 to 1984. Since then he has been a tutor in history at Magdalen College Oxford and a lecturer, reader and professor in history at the University of Oxford. He works on the history of education, science and medicine in early-modern France and Britain and has a general interest in the history of European ideas. He is married with three children and four grandchildren.Ritchie Robertson was born in Nairn, Scotland, and educated at the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. He has held temporary teaching posts in Oxford and Cambridge, was Fellow and Tutor in German at St John's College, Oxford, from 1989 to 2010, and is now Taylor Professor of German and a Fellow of the Queen's College. He has held a Humbolddt Fellowship and been a visiting professor in Berlin. In 2004 he was elected to the British Academy. He is married with two stepchildren.

• AN IDEA IN CONTEXT; ENLIGHTENMENT THINKERS; COUNTER-ENLIGHTENMENTS?; BERLIN S LEGACY

Laurence Brockliss was born in London and educated at the University of Cambridge. He was a lecturer in history at the University of Hull from 1974 to 1984. Since then he has been a tutor in history at Magdalen College Oxford and a lecturer, reader and professor in history at the University of Oxford. He works on the history of education, science and medicine in early-modern France and Britain and has a general interest in the history of European ideas. He is married with three children and four grandchildren.Ritchie Robertson was born in Nairn, Scotland, and educated at the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. He has held temporary teaching posts in Oxford and Cambridge, was Fellow and Tutor in German at St John's College, Oxford, from 1989 to 2010, and is now Taylor Professor of German and a Fellow of the Queen's College. He has held a Humbolddt Fellowship and been a visiting professor in Berlin. In 2004 he was elected to the British Academy. He is married with two stepchildren.

• AN IDEA IN CONTEXT; ENLIGHTENMENT THINKERS; COUNTER-ENLIGHTENMENTS?; BERLIN S LEGACY