Allan Mitchell received his PhD from Harvard in 1961 and then taught at Smith College (1961-1972) and the University of California (1973-1993). He has recently published three books: a paperback edition of The Great Train Race: Railways and the Franco-German Rivalry, 1815-1914 (Berghahn Books, 2006); Reves Parisiens. L'echec de projets de transport public en France aux XIXe siecle (Ponts et Chaussees, Paris, 2005); and A Stranger in Paris: Germany's Role in Republican France, 1870-1940 (Berghahn Books, 2006)."