All of the history cited in the novel is real. So too are the quotes, although I have edited some without using ellipses for reasons of brevity, pace and impact. I used an 1845 translation of Life of Constantine published by Samuel Bagster and Sons of London and a more recent translation by Averil Cameron and Stuart G. Hall. Chapter 19 quotes an 1880 biography of Eusebius published by Little, Brown. Ian Kershaw’s Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis was published by Allen Lane. The quote opening the book is from The Consolation of Philosophy, translated by V.E. Watts, published by Penguin in 1999. The Brontoscopic Calendar exists; a grave some speculate may be that of Tages really was discovered in 1982. Good luck finding it, though. The Dicks Report also exists, and excerpts from Henry Dicks’s clinical diary (held by the Wellcome Trust) are used with the permission of the Dicks family, to whom I am very grateful. The original journal is reproduced accurately up to Hess’s suicide attempt; the ‘missing pages’ and their contents are, of course, my invention. The Dicks family have also asked me to make clear that Henry Dicks saw Hess as a patient; his role in the case was a medical one and was not, as far as we know, directed or influenced by the intelligence agencies. After that I’m afraid it is fiction. There is not really an Etruscan inscription on the ceiling of the Monastery of Debre Damo, nor is there one in the Istanbul cistern. The Peace of Amiens by Devosge is as described, sans the Etruscan characters on his scroll. Sadly, to the best of my knowledge it is not actually possible to predict the future by studying bolts of lightning.
I am hugely indebted to the Etruscan historian Jean MacIntosh Turfa – not only for her help and support throughout the project, but also for her amazing work on the Brontoscopic Calendar, which sparked the idea for the tale. She even gave me the title of the novel! Dr Ronald Pearson kindly allowed me to draw heavily on his own theories and explanations for my depiction of the scientific reality behind ‘the network’, many of which I use verbatim. I am a history geek, not a scientist, and I couldn’t have done it without him. Needless to say, any mistakes are my own. I owe another huge debt of gratitude to my agent, Robin Wade, and my editor, Andrew Lockett. Big thanks to all my friends and family who helped with proofing and criticism along the way, especially Bec. And of course to my friends and brothers who ventured into the badlands of Ethiopia with me. The same intrepid/foolhardy gang has since taken part in expeditions to Sierra Leone, Burundi and the Congo to research the sequel and a third title, and they were not uneventful.