Historians all around

In addition to the aforementioned matriculation dinner, today was also marked by drinks with the various people associated with my course, the MPhil in Modern European History [longish pdf, so you've been warned]: fellow grad students (whose names I'm starting to learn) and Real Life Historians. Now I've met plenty of those before, but there's something a bit different between the profs at the history department at Swat and, say, Richard Evans. I can say quite confidently that I've never before had drinks with someone who has turned down a chair at Princeton.

It's all very impressive, and I must admit to being a bit cowed. But everyone's quite friendly, and Richard Evans has even been to Swarthmore! Besides, being privy to all sorts of Cambridge gossip (for example, Peterhouse is a scary place with a clique of reactionary fellows whose political beliefs, if made public, could seriously damage the reputation of the university) makes one feel more comfortable.

So. There are famous historians here. And I get to spend time with them. It's all very exciting.