''People', declared Eric Rolls, 'must always be given hope.' He was an extraordinary optimist. He was prepared to deliver the hard, grim facts when necessary, but he also wanted to inspire action and guide change, and for that, he knew, we do indeed need hope. Historian though he was (as well as a poet, farmer, cook and fisherman), Eric also believed that 'tomorrow is more exciting than yesterday'. He had faith in the future, and in the capacity of people to meet it; he was a historian whose history had to serve the future for which he was so hungry.' (p. 12)