In writing an essay on the play Saint Joan of the Stockyards to be included in a collection of essays under the title The Cambridge Companion to Brecht, I am acutely aware of the consequence of making an entry into a canon. The writing of the essay cannot be taken in isolation; it will take its place alongside others, some on individual plays, some on aspects of Brecht's stagecraft and dramaturgy. Each essay may be read individually, but they will equally be 'read' as part of the Companion and potentially as part of the construction of a canon of work. In one sense all the contributors to this volume are engaged in the making of an historical narrative. By selecting the essay titles, by deciding the order of those titles, we are party to the construction of a narrative that may be seen as the 'making' of one Brecht. Or even the deconstruction of another Brecht.