Acknowledgments

My own peregrinations to gather information on the religious notables and other dramatis personae who figure in this study took me far and wide—to some ten archival collections and libraries on three continents. These journeys, a form of research nomadism, and the wealth of documentation amassed would not have been possible without the beneficent support, financial and otherwise, of a large number of institutions and individuals. While I can never hope to repay the debt which stretches back more years than I care to recall, I can at least acknowledge the extent of my liabilities.

My deep respect for, and abiding interest in, the Maghrib and its gracious people began with the Peace Corps in Tunisia in 1973, where we, the volunteers, had the good fortune to learn about all things Tunisian from Laurence O. Michalak, then the summer training director. Larry's enthusiasm for the country was infectious and has remained with me until this day. Subsequently, I studied North African history with John Ruedy at Georgetown University, who proved to be a formidable intellectual mentor then as he still is now. Other Georgetown faculty, former and present, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude are Thomas Ricks, Barbara Stowasser, and Michael Hudson, to name only a few. In 1977 while still at Georgetown, I had the uncommon privilege of serving as Jacques Berque's teaching assistant, the start of a long intellectual friendship which later continued in France as well as in California. From 1978 on the G. E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies and the History Department of the University of California, Los Angeles, offered extensive financial assistance and intellectual inspiration. The UCLA faculty also deserve special mention: Claude Audebert, Edward Berenson, Nikki R. Keddie, the late Malcolm Kerr, Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid Marsot, who kindly served as a mentor,

friend, and as the chair of my dissertation committee, Georges Sabagh, and many others. Over the past decade, Edmund Burke III, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, has acted as an invaluable intellectual preceptor as I delved into the thicket of popular protest. Ross E. Dunn of San Diego State University also has provided much encouragement. In addition, L. Carl Brown, Dale F. Eickelman, R. Stephen Humpfreys, and John Voll have offered greatly appreciated suggestions for improving portions of the manuscript.

My years at Georgetown University and the University of California, Los Angeles, were punctuated by extended periods of study in France. While in Paris at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in 1976–1977, I had the opportunity to study with Mme. Germaine Tillion. Subsequently, the French government provided me with the financial wherewithal to study with Jacques Berque at the Collège de France, Paris, in 1980, a richly rewarding experience. I also had the opportunity to attend Lucette Valensi's stimulating seminars in Paris that year and again in 1982. Numerous research trips to the Maghrib and Europe from 1981 until the present were funded by the following institutions and organizations: the Social Science Research Council; Fulbright-Hays International Doctoral Dissertation Program; Council for International Exchange of Scholars/Fulbright Islamic Civilization Program; American Philosophical Society; and the American Institute for Maghrebi Studies. The University of Virginia provided summer faculty research grants and a year of leave from teaching responsibilities to write.

On the other side of the Atlantic and on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, the staffs of numerous archives and libraries in Tunisia, Morocco, France, Great Britain, and Malta have greatly facilitated my research forays, particularly Monsieur Moncef Fakhfakh of the Dar el-Bey, Tunis, and Mme. Jeanne Mrad of the Centre d'Études Maghrébines à Tunis. Special thanks are also due to the very efficient staff of the Bibliothèque Générale in Rabat and its director, Mohamed Ben Sherifa. Beyond institutional support, Tunisian colleagues and friends have provided all manner of sustenance to me and my family over the years: Alya Baffoun, Samya El Mechat, Khalid Mrad, Pat and Dick Payne, Noura and Mohamed Rostom, Fredj Stambouli, Abdeljelil Temimi, and countless others who have overwhelmed us with their hospitality. Closer to home, colleagues and graduate students at the University of Virginia have also contributed in one way or another to the present endeavor: Richard Barnett, Timothy Faulkner, Robert Fuller, Patrick Gibbons, R. Carey Goodman, Ann Lane, Melvyn Leffler, Cynthia Metcalf, Farzaneh Milani, and Joseph Miller.

Still closer to home, my greatest debt is to my husband, Charles ("Carl") D. Smith, who has, with unfailing good humor, read many drafts of this manuscript, both in early incarnations as a dissertation and in later versions, and has suffered for years from the effects of the distracted spouse syndrome. My daughter, Elisabeth, "helped" in her own inimitable way by inquiring cheerfully, if a bit impatiently, after school every day: "Have you finished your book today, Mommy?" Elisabeth is happy to know that I will now be spending much less time with strangers like Bu Ziyan and more with her.