Jeroen Duindam is Professor of History and Chair for Early Modern History at the University of Leiden. He has published extensively on the history of courts and rulers, initially focusing on Europe, before gradually extending his research interests to include Asia and Africa. Between 2011 and 2016 he led a prestigious Dutch research programme on Eurasian empires, and he currently leads a research project on 'monarchy in turmoil', which examines the response of rulers in the Netherlands and Germany to reform and revolution between 1780 and 1820.