It is a great pleasure to be able to place on record my sincere thanks to the many people who have helped in various ways during the writing of this book.
The School of History, University of Leeds, has been my academic home for the whole time that I have been working on 1956, and I could not wish for a more generous or supportive group of colleagues. Financial assistance from both my department and the Faculty of Arts funded archival visits and a year of sabbatical leave. I also benefited from the largesse of the Eisenhower Foundation and the Roosevelt Study Center. Peter Anderson, Kester Aspden, Simon Ball, Malcolm Chase, Martin Evans, Dan Exeter, Moritz Föllmer, Matthew Frank, Oscar Jose Martin Garcia, Jim House, Will Jackson, Christoph Laucht, George Lewis, Pawel Machcewicz, Anita Prazmowska, Dan Stone, Brian Ward and Hugh Wilford responded to queries both large and small, and offered numerous helpful suggestions; Emilia Jamroziak, Vincent Hiribarren and János Szuhánszki translated various documents; and Rozalia Kollar, Nicholas Pronay, János Szuhánszki (Sr) and Maria Szuhánsky were kind enough to share their stories of 1956 with me. For taking the trouble to read parts of the manuscript and offering characteristically insightful and trenchant criticisms, I am more than happy to salute Shane Doyle, Nick Grant, Andrew Preston, Joe Street and, especially, Mark B. Smith – who interrogated me on everything from the structural problems of US foreign policy to the length of a Polish sausage!
A book of this kind inevitably relies heavily on the work of other scholars, and – as the detailed notes and bibliography show – I owe an enormous amount to those who have written previously on particular aspects of 1956. I would also like to acknowledge the sterling work of Valoise Armstrong (Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library), Hans Krabbendam (assistant director, Roosevelt Study Center, Middelburg), and the staff of the National Archives, Kew; the Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library and the Robert R. Woodruff Library at Emory University, Atlanta; and the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds.
This project would never have got off the ground in the first place but for the support of my literary agent, Sally Holloway, and Felicity Bryan Associates. Sally not only had faith in this book – and in me – from the start, she also urged me to broaden my horizons and provided wise editorial advice. I am also indebted to Faber, where Neil Belton offered crucial early encouragement, Alex Russell fielded innumerable queries, Eleanor Rees copyedited the manuscript with admirable thoroughness, Kate Ward guided the book through to production and Julian Loose wielded his editorial pen to great effect (even if, tragically, the first ever Eurovision Song Contest failed to make the final cut).
Writing a book can be a pretty solitary business, and I am immensely grateful to all my friends and family for raising my spirits and cheering me on. My sister, Emma, is an inspiration, and my parents, Brian and Marilyn, have offered nothing less than unconditional love and support. For János, who has lived with this book (and put up with its occasionally grumpy author) these past years, words simply will not do.