Starting a list of memorable academic book introductions: openings that demand attention. My personal top-five:

-Dubois, “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” The Souls of Black Folk
-Dewey, “The Live Creature,” Art as Experience
-Glassie, “Crossing Drumbargy Brae,” Passing the Time in Ballymenone
-Hobsbaum, “Introduction,” Nations and Nationalism Since 1780
-Smith, “Opening,” The Acoustic World of Early Modern England

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