I have many people to thank. My agent Sarah Chalfant, for believing that my idea could be a book; my editor Helen Conford at Penguin for her vision and always-right advice; and Donna Poppy, who with her skilful editing transformed my flawed draft into a story. My early readers: Tim Appenzeller, David Adam and Geoff Brumfiel. Rowena Purrett, who faithfully transcribed my interviews. The many friends, writers and editors who provided encouragement and support, in particular Sara Abdulla and Meredith Wadman, and my colleagues at Nature who patiently tolerated my infatuation with cohort studies.
I owe enormous thanks to the many people who gave their time to be interviewed in the course of researching this book; without their extraordinary patience and generosity, there would be no story. Of these, I owe particular gratitude to Diana Kuh, who spent hours letting me pick her brains; and Michael Wadsworth, who was so amazingly generous with his time and knowledge and offered insightful, detailed feedback on my draft. I am tremendously grateful to everyone who took time to speak to me during my research, a list that includes but is not limited to: Eva Alberman, Evrim Altintas, David Barker, Mel Bartley, Yoav Ben-Shlomo, Jo Blanden, Andrew Boddy, Nicky Britten, Peter Brocklehurst, Bess Bukodi, Paul Burton, Fiona Butler, John Bynner, Lisa Calderwood, Iain Chalmers, Philip Cheetham, Steve Christmas, John Colley, John Cooper, Jane Costello, Claire Crawford, Janet Currie, Angela Dale, Colleen Daley, Ronald Davie, Shirley Dex, Carol Dezateux, Ian Diamond, Brian Dodgeon, John Douglas, Rachel Douglas, Greg Duncan, Peter Elias, Jane Elliott, Hilary Emery, Alan Emond, Leon Feinstein, Elsa Ferri, Emla Fitzsimons, Ken Fogelman, John Fox, Jonathan Gershuny, Gail Gleave, Jean Golding, Harvey Goldstein, John Goldthorpe, Alissa Goodman, Hilary Graham, Paul Gregg, Toni Griffiths, Louis Hancock, Rebecca Hardy, Diane Iles, Hazel Inskip, Michael Jay, Heather Joshi, Elaine Kelly, Frank Kelly, Yvonne Kelly, Kathleen Kiernan, Mike King, Mark Klebanoff, Jack Kneeshaw, Peter Kuh, Catherine Law, Debbie Lawlor, Annette Lawson, Kit Leighton-Kelly, Rona McCandlish, Alison Macfarlane, Stephen Machin, Lindsey Macmillan, Patricia Malvern, Michael Marmot, Barbara Maughan, Robert Michael, John Micklewright, Lynn Molloy, Amy Murdoch-Davis, Jeremy Neathey, Nigel Paneth, Alison Park, Samantha Parsons, Catherine Peckham, Marcus Pembrey, Doria Pilling, Steve Pischke, Philip Pizzo, Lucinda Platt, Barry Pless, Diana Pomeroy, Christine Porter, Neil Porter, Chris Power, Gillian Pugh, Jugnoo Rahi, Caroline Relton, Marcus Richards, Sue Ring, Euan Ross, Michael Rutter, Claire Satow, Stephanie von Hinke Kessler Scholder, Ingrid Schoon, Vanessa Shenton, Peter Shepherd, Alwyn Smith, George Davey Smith, Camilla Stoltenberg, Alice Sullivan, Ezra Susser, Deliang Tang, Nicholas Timpson, Anna Vignoles, Morten Wahrendorf, Jane Waldfogel, David Ward, Peter Wedge, Rebecca Wood, John Wright, and Vikki Yip. Several of the people on this list also gave me wise and invaluable comments on my draft. The British birth cohorts would not exist without the loyalty and participation of the cohort members and their families. Their identities are confidential, as is the data that is collected on them. The cohort members that I interviewed for this book agreed to have their stories included, and are remarkable for their openness and honesty. In some cases, names or details were changed to maintain confidentiality. I would also like to thank the participants that I interviewed during my research whose names I have not included here to respect their confidentiality. I hope I have the opportunity to meet more cohort members in the future, and hear about their extraordinary lives.
The feelings I have for my family defy words. My parents, Kate and Don Pearson, and my sister, Elizabeth Pearson, have offered unquestioning encouragement and help. This book would not have been written at all without the many days of childcare that my mum provided. No one believed in it more than my partner, Peter, who gave me his unwavering faith and support. My sons, Ashby, Lynton and Edwin, were a source of delight and inspiration. Please forgive me the many days that I spent on this book, when I wanted to spend them with you.