While the text of this internet edition of Ransoming Captives remains substantially unchanged from the 1986 edition that was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in its Middle Ages Series, it is an experiment in several senses. For me, its production is a learning experience, as I attempt to master the intricacies of scanners and OCR programs. I ask the reader's pardon for any errors that this process might have introduced into the text. On a larger scale, this is an attempt to determine whether there is a demand for full-text electronic editions of previously published material. Given the limited budgets of academic libraries, the difficulties and expense of inter-library loan, and the relatively short shelf life of university press publications, it would seem that such an edition would bring the text to a large number of academic and public libraries, students, and academics who otherwise would not have easy access to such materials. While an edition such as this lacks the tactile quality of a traditional book,  it is more easily searched, making the traditional index superfluous. It has also enabled me to restore the close connection that I had originally intended between the text and the notes. In any case, your comments are welcome and can be  e-mailed  to me.

I wish to express my appreciation to the University of Pennsylvania Press, and particularly to its director, Eric Halpern, and its humanities editor, Jerome Singerman, for their assistance in engineering this transfer from print to an electronic medium. I also thank the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain and the University of Central Arkansas for the use of their internet sites. My son, James C. Brodman, helped with the design of the opening page. Finally, I wish to reiterate the dedication of the print edition, which is in loving memory of my parents: Adolph and Margaret Brodman.

University of Central Arkansas,
June, 1998