When the editors were considering a suitable topic for this festschrift they found themselves, as one might expect with an honorand of Barrie Dobson's range of interests, spoilt for choice. It was Sarah Rees Jones who came up with the theme of Utopias and Idealists, which pays tribute both to Barrie's strong interest in social justice, reflected in his work on the Peasants' Revolt and Robin Hood, and also to his long-standing engagement with the aspirations and achievements of medieval communities and their administrators, both ecclesiastical and secular. This wide range of interests, to which John Taylor pays proper tribute below, has equipped Barrie with a special understanding of the relationship between idealism and pragmatism that has informed his equally long-standing interest in the life and work of Thomas More.

The initial hope was that this would be a subject that would draw together contributions from modernists as well as medievalists. That, sadly, foundered. Collections of papers ranging from the early Middle Ages to the twentieth century are not thought viable publishing ventures these days. Several of Barrie's friends and colleagues who had hoped to contribute were accordingly unable to do so, and the choice of topic (and the need to keep the collection within reasonable length) excluded others. Those friends and colleagues of Barrie whose papers are included here are conscious that they stand for a great many others who wished to be involved, and whose good wishes go with them.