Acknowledgements

Any book that has taken this long in gestation has had input from many sources. In particular, though, I’d like to express my gratitude to Madonna Duffy, my publisher, for her continued belief in the value of my work, and to both my editors, Julia Stiles and Jacqueline Blanchard; also to my early readers, in particular Mark Newman; as well as to those from whom I sought technical information, Dr Les Hall and Sue Hadfield. Finally I could not have contemplated such a project without the constant love, support and patience of my wife, Chris Francis.

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