Why do the heavens not darken?

February 8 [1991]

Dear [Laurent],


I wish to thank you for your very thoughtful letter. Indeed, I had a future Desert Storm in mind when writing and thinking the book. But you are the first to read between the lines, and to have seen one of the unwritten "texts" .. Judging by the tone of your letter you seem to have no regrets about having spent four years at this university!

Should you ever return for a reunion or some other occasion, why not give me advance notice so we can arrange to meet for a chat. In the meantime every best personal wish and again un grand merci for taking the trouble to write me that note.


What makes a man think ahead? What makes an historian think prospectively, once he's done his best to know what's happened? What lures him every Autumn from his château in Chérence, to a small town in New Jersey, after all?  


I think we know.