ACKNOWLEDGMENTSACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ONE PERSON WITHOUT WHOM THIS BOOK WOULD NOT EXIST IS Elizabeth Shaw, who managed the master text of a multitude of drafts and redrafts, as we labored on our separate parts of the book. She also incorporated all the suggestions and corrections offered by other readers over several years and from several locations. In addition, she made countless creative suggestions of her own.

Two friends with long experience in Rome, Rocco Buttiglione and Andreas Widmer, were especially helpful in offering corrections and suggestions in several key chapters.

Many other close readers caught errors, raised pointed questions about ambiguities, and caused us to do much rewriting. Among these were Paul’s colleagues Gerald Gillmore of the University of Washington and Gale Burford of the University of Vermont, as well as five especially impressive students at Ave Maria University: Sarah Blanchard, Angela Winkels, Catherine Glaser, Peter Atkinson, and Monica Bushling. Nor can we forget the insights and suggestions of Mitch Boersma of the American Enterprise Institute.

Finally, our thanks go out to Roger Kimball and his team at Encounter Books, most notably Katherine Wong and Heather Ohle.

As Tiny Tim said, “God bless you, every one!”