Having reached the end of the trail, both of journeying and of describing the journey, I feel that a small number of clarifications are called for. Authors are advised not to let too much daylight in on the magic, but some observant readers may have noticed discrepancies which deserve some explanation.
It is a matter of historical record, confirmed by my diary, that I travelled around the world, from Frankfurt to Frankfurt, in the first half of 2012. The initial flight left FRA for Dubai on Tuesday, 10 April 2012, over five years ago; and from the Gulf, I made my way in easy stages, as described, to India, South-East Asia, ‘Anzac’, Polynesia, the United States, and back to Europe. In the twenty-first century such peregrinations are commonplace, and I don’t think that the book contains any inaccurate statements relating to them. The itinerary was not dictated by any principle other than that of keeping on the move in the general direction of the sunrise.
In the following period, however, several additions and adjustments were made to the basic chronicle, inevitably prompting textual elisions. Firstly, I added a couple of chapters, one about Cornwall and the other about New York, which fitted neatly into the overall scheme but were originally intended for inclusion in my earlier book, Vanished Kingdoms. Secondly, I travelled to three destinations – Baku, Mauritius, and Madeira – on separate trips that did not form part of the main, global expedition. And thirdly, my wife and I travelled to Singapore, Tasmania, and New Zealand twice: once in 2012, when our movements in ‘Kiwiland’ were confined to North Island, and then again in 2014, when we returned to tour South Island. I should also explain that my stay in Mauritius formed part of that second extended journey, whose antipodean sector followed the route from Christchurch to Johannesburg via Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Mauritius. During my flight across the Indian Ocean, therefore, which took me directly over the search area for MH370, I was actually travelling westwards and not, as was perhaps implied, eastwards.
My travels in the years when this book was in the making were further increased by the demands of a completely different project. This parallel undertaking centred on the wartime saga of the Army of General Anders – the victor of Monte Cassino – and involved yet another series of strenuous trips that took me to Russia, Iran, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and eventually to Italy. It all ended happily with the publication in 2015 of Trail of Hope: The Anders Army, an Odyssey across Three Continents.1 But it also contributed to the state of exhaustion that prompted my less memorable travels by ambulance to the Stroke Department of the John Radcliffe Hospital, to the operating theatre of the Churchill Hospital, and eventually to the Oncology Unit of the Manor Hospital. The journey through cancer, which lasted much longer than my circumnavigation of the world, gave occasion for encounters with many wonderful people, both carers and fellow patients. Memories of the many colourful, complex, and endlessly stimulating countries that I had recently visited played a major part in my recovery.
Profuse expressions of gratitude are due to more people than could possibly be mentioned. My long-suffering wife, Maria-Myszka, accompanied me not only to the tropics and antipodes but also through successive consulting rooms, medical procedures and hospital wards. My debt to her is incalculable. A long line of ambassadors and consuls, principally from Poland’s excellent Diplomatic Service, eased my passage through many a frontier, lecture room, and airport. A literary prize funded by the Kronenberg Foundation covered the cost of air tickets. Our good friend, Magda Rabiega, organized the transformation of my handwritten manuscript into digital text. Roger Moorhouse drafted the maps and selected the pictures. A number of readers, some anonymous and some more enthusiastic than others, helped improve the contents of particular chapters. And my unflagging editor at Penguin Books, Stuart Proffitt, was responsible both for a wealth of notes and comments and for frequent words of generous encouragement, which kept my mind active and eventually brought me over the finishing line. The final text was copy-edited by Richard Mason, who clearly enjoyed the task, fed me with poetic contributions of his own, and gave encouraging early signals of the book’s acceptability. Other individuals to whom a special word of thanks is due include David Godwin, Katarzyna Pisarska, Ranjit Majumdar, Andrzej and Barbara Pikulski, Eugene Rogan, Don Baker, Jan Nitecki, Brian Holmes, Panstwo Sobczyńscy, Paul Flather, Rajeev Bhargava, John Martin, Karolina Marchocka, Christopher Tremewan, Sudhir Hazareesingh, Henry Dimbleby, Jan and Zosia Pachulski, Ian and Margaret Willis, Val and Roger Roberts, Beata Stoczyńska, Wojciech and Cecilia Klobukowski, Arnaud Dardel, Joanna Frybes, Mary Neuburger, Mary Gawron, Jarek Garlinski, Brendan Simms, Ben Sinyor, Fraser Harley, Ian Lindsey, and the late and much missed Andrzej Findeisen.
Thanks to an invitation to be the Visiting scholar at Pembroke College, Cambridge, the proofs were corrected in great calm and comfort in Pembroke College Library.
Summertown, 28 August 2017