It's crunchtime (in the non-financial sense of the word) for me: the contract for my next book has been sent by Richard Baggaley of Princeton University Press. Every time I've finished writing a book, I've sworn never to do another, and then a year or two passes and somehow the idea of another one seems irresistible. Tonight I'm meeting the wonderful Peter Dougherty, the head of PUP and author of Who's Afraid of Adam Smith, to celebrate. (He's here for the London Book Fair.) Readers of this blog will be able to follow my progress, and without doubt offer encouragement and advice, in the months ahead.