I wish to thank several friends, colleagues and other experts who were generous beyond the call of duty with their time and advice concerning various aspects of this book. My thanks are due to Sir Malcolm Jack, KCB, Former Clerk of the House of Commons for giving advice on constitutional matters; Professor Robert Blackburn, Professor of Constitutional Law, King’s College London and Prebendary Reverend Andrew Davis on the Church of England; Professor Emeritus Niall Quinn on clinical manifestations of neurological diseases; Professor Megan Vaughan, Smuts Chair of History of the British Commonwealth, Cambridge University and Dilip Lakhani, Esq. on the fate of the Asian community in East Africa; Dr Patrick Smith, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London on childhood traumas, Professor Emeritus Charles Polkey on neurosurgery and Nicholas Swan, Esq. on sharing his experience to draw up one of my characters.
I am greatly indebted to Professor Ray Dolland, FRS, for a most useful discussion and for allowing me to ‘shadow’ one of his colleagues, Dr Tali Sharot. The days I spent in his Institute proved the most enjoyable experience while preparing the manuscript. The experiment on holiday choices is based on Dr Sharot’s paradigm, and was published in Journal of Neuroscience (29:3760–5, 2009). Of course, thought modification, as described in this book is entirely fictional but it is only a question of time before it becomes a reality.
My special thanks should go to HH Judge Jeremy Connor who not only advised me on legal issues but also made useful comments while reading the manuscript. Elspeth Sinclair gave inestimable help in all aspects in the preparation of the manuscript.
In our fast-shifting political, economic and social world to predict changes even a year ahead is difficult, but to envisage the future a couple of decades hence is impossible. In the past greater writers than the author of this book have proved wrong.