This book has been quite a journey, and I’ve been aided in it by some fine scholars and journalists who have gone before me. I’m particularly indebted to a set of remarkable writers who have chronicled the lives of this story’s protagonists: George Weigel on John Paul II, Baqer Moin on Ayatollah Khomeini, Ali Rahnema on Ali Shariati, John Campbell and Hugo Young on Margaret Thatcher, and Ezra Vogel on Deng Xiaoping.
I owe particular thanks to the men and women who allowed themselves to be interviewed about their own experiences: Akbar Ayazi, Adam Boniecki, Bao Pu, C. K. Feng (Feng Zhigen), Halina Bortnowska, Jeff Muir, Jim Laurie, John Dolfin, John Fraser, Kanan Makiya, Kourosh Rakhimkani, Mohammad Hassan Kakar, Mohsen Sazegara, Norman Tebbit, Qian Gang, Rong Zhiren, Simon Heffer, Thomas Barfield, Tom Gorman, and Radek Sikorski.
I have also benefited hugely from the good advice and editorial counsel of my friends and colleagues at Foreign Policy—above all Susan Glasser, whose journalistic skill and editorial savvy I value as much as her friendship. Blake Hounshell, Benjamin Pauker, Charles Homans, Christina Larson, and Isaac Stone Fish have all blessed me with their know-how. My indefatigable assistants, Arianne Swieca and Neha Paliwal, kept the trains running on time.
At The New York Review of Books, I am deeply grateful for the guidance I received from the inestimable Robert Silvers, an avatar of fine literary style and editorial good sense. I am also much obliged to Hugh Eakin and Sascha Weiss for their countless good deeds.
I owe a special debt to Scott Moyers, who helped to bring this book to life. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with Lara Heimert of Basic Books, the best editor in the book business. My sincerest thanks also go to Andrew Wylie and Adam Eaglin. Richard Samuels, Director of the Center for International Studies at MIT, provided invaluable organizational support and access to a peerless intellectual environment. Kourosh Rakhimkani, Thomas Barfield, and Odd Arne Westad all helped enormously by sharing their thoughts on early versions of the manuscript.
Fortune smiled upon me in the form of a fellowship from MUSE Magazine, which enabled me to spend a semester teaching at the Journalism and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong. I am deeply indebted to Frank Proctor of MUSE for sponsoring the fellowship and to Ying Chan, JMSC’s indefatigable director, for hosting me. I am also grateful to the Center’s staff and students, especially Gao Yubing, Doreen Weisenhaus, Gene Mustain, Doug Meigs, David Bandurski, Natasha Khan, Kylie Chan, Elizabeth Cheung, Ng Pando, and Celine Zhang.
During my stay in Hong Kong I greatly benefited from conversations with Liu Kin-Ming, Jean-Francois Huchet, Tom Mitchell, and Ilaria Sala.
An intrepid band of research assistants around the world provided crucial help at various stages of the project: Lukasz Krzyzanowski in Warsaw; Li Li in Hong Kong; and Nicholas van Beek and Alexis Zimberg in Washington, DC. Kristin Deasy and Hanna Trudo lent a helping hand with fact-checking. Jessica Yellin offered a much-appreciated bit of freelance proofreading.
Roderick MacFarquhar offered useful advice at a critical juncture, and Rory MacFarquhar shared helpful background about the work of his mother Emily, a remarkable correspondent who was a member of the reporting team from The Economist that visited China in 1979. Nancy Hearst, Barnett Rubin, Orville Schell, Ted Plafker, and George Weigel all responded graciously to requests for information. Helena Openchowski provided urgently needed assistance with Polish translation. Felix Corley helped out by pointing the way to some highly relevant documents.
I would not have been able to write this book without the intercession of Jeff Gedmin, first at Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, then at Legatum. I am deeply grateful to Jeff for continuing to believe in me.
I continue to treasure the experience of working with the fine journalists at RFE/RL, starting with the remarkable John O’Sullivan, who was also good enough to share some of his experiences of working with Margaret Thatcher. Among the colleagues who contributed insights to this book are Golnaz Esfandiari, Gregory Feifer, Akbar Ayazi, Hossein Aryan, Muhammad Tahir, and Daud Khan.
I began this project during my stint at Newsweek, where I had the luck to work with an unrivaled group of brilliant reporters. Several of them contributed to this book, in ways both direct and indirect. Fareed Zakaria, my editor at Newsweek International, gave crucial encouragement and advice; a better sounding board would be hard to find. Others include Rod Nordland, Christopher Dickey, Jeffrey Bartholet, Akiko Kashiwagi, Kay Itoi, Hideko Takayama, Fred Guterl, George Wehrfritz, Marcus Mabry, Nisid Hajari, Tony Emerson, Mark Miller, Vladimir Volkov, and Maziar Bahari. Melinda Liu, that paragon of the Beijing press corps, shared valuable advice and useful contacts.
Finally, I must thank a number of good friends who provided moral support, occasional psychotherapy, and miscellaneous practical assistance. At the top of the list is Anne Applebaum, who has helped me in so many ways that I have now lost count. I also want to make special mention of Edward Lucas and Cristina Odone, whose friendship and advice were invaluable. Others include Andrew Solomon, Ann Kjell-berg, Dexter Filkins, Diane Zeleny, Benjamin Seiver, Bill Putnam, Deborah Scroggins, Dominic Ziegler, Gwen Robinson, Jeff Kingston, Jill Dougherty, Mark Lilla, Melinda Haring, Paul and Kukula Glastris, Steve LeVine and Nurilda Nurlybaeva, and Kenneth Cukier. Suzanne Black deserves a special mention for her tireless financial management.
I’m also obligated to the noble volunteers at the Brewster Ladies’ Library in Brewster, Massachusetts, and the team at the public library in Bethesda, Maryland. I’m also happy to acknowledge the contribution of the staff and patrons of the Hot Chocolate Sparrow in Orleans, Massachusetts, and the Tastee Diner in Bethesda.
Finally, a special note of love and thanks goes to Ted Caryl, who is not only the best brother imaginable, but also a great banker in the bargain. And, finally, I come to my long-suffering family: Natasha, Timothy, and Alexandra. You endured my many absences and kept me going when the going got tough. I owe you a debt I can never adequately repay. I hope that you will accept this book, nonetheless, as an emblem of my love.