Acknowledgements

The translation of this book was accomplished mainly under the condi­tions of an uncanny global plague - a plague of mondialisation, of the errant becoming-planetary of all experience, as Axelos might say - that is now universally named COVID-19.

While it has been an honour and a privilege to work on this translation together, it has not been an unmitigatedly positive experience. Luckily, we have had the extraordinary support of Katherina Daskalaki, Professor Stuart Elden and the (very understanding) team at Edinburgh University Press, who persisted with the project despite our seemingly endless interrup­tions and delays. The translation could simply not have happened without their interest and assistance, for which we are extremely grateful. There are probably not sufficient words of gratitude for Dr Robert Boncardo, whose generosity in reading the manuscript and providing detailed feedback and references has entirely improved the translation as a whole, as well as saving us from embarrassing errors. Knox Peden and Joe Hughes have also provided further indispensable advice.

The translators were first introduced to each other in 2018 in Melbourne, Australia, by Dr Adam Nash from RMIT University, who, for a variety of reasons, was unable to continue to contribute to the translation himself. Although we regret Adam’s absence, this project would never have hap­pened without him. Monz is a Lecturer at RMIT University in Vietnam; Clemens is an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne. We would like to thank both institutions for their support for such a project in such a difficult time.

Disrupted by a planetary pandemic, as well as the accompanying manifold institutional, social and political disturbances that everyone now living will be aware of in their own way, these difficulties were perhaps less overwhelm­ing than the difficulties in Englishing this unique masterpiece. Le jeu du monde took Axelos fifteen years to write and us five years to translate - too long, in its way, but perhaps, in another, not nearly long enough.