Acknowledgements

Many people have helped me in writing this book. Norman Cohn gave me the immese benefit of his conversation, and I could not have developed the interpretation of modern politics and religion presented here without it. Conversations with Bryan Appleyard, Robert Colls, Michael Lind, Adam Phillips and Paul Schütze have entered into the book in many ways. Simon Winder, my editor at Penguin, has given me invaluable suggestions and encouragement at every stage of the book’s development. Tracy Bohan of the Wylie Agency UK in London and Eric Chinski at Farrar Straus Giroux in New York, and Nick Garrison of Doubleday Canada have been enormously helpful in giving me their comments. I am extremely grateful to David Rieff for his penetrating thoughts on a late draft. Responsibility for the book remains mine.

My biggest debt is to Mieko, who made the book possible.

John Gray