Acknowledgements

In 1974, Italian historian Arnaldo Momigliano (1908-1987) wrote that ‘when faced with uncertainty, the serious historian consults his colleagues, above all those who have proven themselves to be notoriously skeptical and relentless.

This book would not have been written without the outstanding support of two ‘notoriously skeptical and relentless' gentlemen, Luther H. Martin and Donald Wiebe, who have helped me since the darkest days of my PhD, giving me strength to carry on in spite of all the odds. Their implacable critical thinking and exceptional scientific open-mindedness have set a very high bar for me and, in judging this volume, I expect from them nothing less than their usual painstaking scrupulousness.

The network of brilliant scholars they put me in contact with over the years has been oxygen for my exhausted mind. In a few cases, scholarly companionship and formal acquaintance have slowly morphed into close friendship. Panayotis Pachis, Nickolas Roubekas and Ales Chalupa are splendid examples of such a transformation.

In a series of fortunate events, Ales kindly invited me to the Department for the Study of Religions, Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic) for an Autumn 2016 visiting lectureship. The present volume expands the classes on ‘The Historical Study of Religion in the Twentieth Century' I had the pleasure to teach in a friendly environment during that magnificent and colourful Czech autumn. My heartfelt thanks go to all the colleagues, friends and scholars that I had the opportunity to meet there while teaching: David Zbiral, Dalibor Papousek, Sàrka Vondràckovà, Tomas Glomb, Tomas Hampejs, Vojtech Kase, Jana Valtrovà, Milan Fujda, Martin Palecek, Frantisek Novotny, Juraj Franek, Nimrod Luz, the interdisciplinary teams at GEHIR and LEVYNA and, last but not least, all my students.

The hard core of the Masaryk University classes, and of the present book as well, had been previously delineated on two occasions: (1) a 2016 article entitled ‘Mind the (Unbridgeable) Gaps: A Cautionary Tale about Pseudoscientific Distortions and Scientific Misconceptions in the Study of Religion'; (2) a paper presented during the conference ‘Relazioni pericolose. La storia delle religioni italiana e il fascismo' organized, and helmed notwithstanding a spiteful anti-s cientific contestation, by Roberto Alciati and Sergio Botta, and held at Sapienza Università di Roma (Italy) on 3-4 December 2015. I would like to thank in particular Sergio, Roberto, Marianna Ferrara, Caterina Moro and Sonia Gentili for their unfailing support during and after that alarming and worrisome episode.

Way back in 2013, a discussion with a brilliant student (Gianluca Chiesa), when I was halfway through my PhD at the Università degli Studi di Torino (Italy), had already convinced me of the necessity of such a book. Over the years, innumerable lively discussions, cappuccini d’orzo, and good chats with my dear friends in Turin have contributed to shape and refine many of the ideas I present here: Roberto Alciati, Francesco Cassata, Maria Dell'Isola, Enrico Manera, Roberto Merlo, Andrea Nicolotti and Emiliano Rubens Urciuoli. Looking forward to having more cappuccini with you all.

Finally, I would like to gratefully acknowledge, in no particular order, the help of Florinela Cazan, Emina Hadzifejzovic, Giovanni Pasquali, Alessandro Tavecchio, Thomas J. Coleman III, Michele Luzzatto, Mac Linscott Ricketts, Mauro Mandrioli, Marco Ferrari, Giuseppe Liberti, Anders K. Petersen, Peter J. Richerson, Jeppe S. Jensen, Maurilio Orbecchi, Davide Bonadonna and Mike Keesey. Last but not least, I am particularly indebted to Derek Gillard for his masterful reading and useful suggestions, and to my friends Francesco Lodone, Daniele Bellavia, Daniele Navone and Andrea Trento for being there through all the good times and the bad times.

Despite all the amazing help and careful checking, the usual disclaimer applies: any remaining error in the book is entirely my fault.

Oxford, 26 February 2018