This book has been a particular source of pleasure for me. One of the many privileges of being a writer is the extraordinary number of people who are willing to let you invade their lives and drink deep of their experiences. I’ve had more help on this book than perhaps any I have ever written. In particular there are a large number of former military men, real-life versions of Amadeus and Scully, who gave freely of their time and who I hope will enjoy the finished results. It’s a cliché to suggest that the inspired bits are theirs while the faults and fumbles are all mine, but in this instance it is almost entirely true. Paul Ford explained to me how things go bang, Alasdair Hutton talked to me about the insanity of jumping out of the back of aeroplanes, and Jasper Archer introduced me to the Guards (although I hasten to add that he is an entirely different creature to the tormented Freddie Payne). Ian Patterson has been an immense source of strength, humour and wisdom, introducing me to any number of specialists, including David Wills and Dan Tomlinson, who allowed me to drag him around London late at night conjuring up all sorts of lurid scenarios. All these men are of great talent, many are still young with a lifetime of service ahead, and I was hugely impressed by the quality of men and women who have been through the military. But that’s the sad point – they’ve been through it and quit. An exceptional number of gifted men and women seem to have drifted out of the British armed forces in recent years, largely, I suspect, because of the incompetence of their political masters. That has been the country’s great loss.
I’ve had fun with many other aspects of this book. The splendid restaurateur, Patrick Wynn-Jones, MBE, has been kind enough to allow me to base The Kremlin on his excellent restaurant, Pomegranates, near the Houses of Parliament. Liz Brooks of the Dyslexia Institute very kindly introduced me to the difficult but no longer impossible world of word-blindness. Thanks to the work of the Institute, the Amadeuses of this world have a much better chance of fulfilling their potential than ever they had. My old university chum David Broadbent allowed me to lean on his experience of modern Eastern European wines while another university colleague, Anthony Browne, introduced me to Christopher Burr, a Master of Wines who told me fascinating stories about the vineyards of Massandra and the classic vintages of the Russian Tsars. The ultra-modern world of computers presented me with a greater challenge, but Jennifer Klinec and Simon Dodd guided me through their virtues and vulnerabilities. I received advice and inspiration in considerable measure from David Welch and Peter Dobbs, while my former newspaper colleague Chester Stern tried to steer me around the many obstacles I created for myself in the area of policing a modern city like London. I owe Mary Wetherell an apology for taking her name and appending it to an entirely different character, but I hope she will have some fun with the results.
Other friends have always been there to help me with my books. People like Andrei Vandoros, Jim Spicer, Jeremy Hanley, John Whittingdale, Tamsin Rosewell, Anne and Bernard Jenkin. I couldn’t do the books without them, but then neither could I have much fun in life without them.
Two people in particular need a special vote of thanks this time around. Tim Hadcock-Mackay and Torquil MacKenzie-Buist have helped me and my family immensely through this last year and enabled me to bring Whispers of Betrayal to completion. They have been not only splendid supporters but also the greatest of friends. I have spent a sometimes chaotic but extremely happy time with them, finishing off the book at their lovely dog-filled house in Ashcott. It will always be a special memory.
Finally, this book is dedicated to Jill Dando – not in the way I would have wanted, but fate is cruel. She was a very special person and always immensely kind about my books, but then she was kind about almost everything and everyone. Her memory continues to burn brightly not only for her fiancé Alan Farthing and her family, but for countless others. I am one of them.
MD
January 2000
ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
The Tom Goodfellowe series
GOODFELLOWE MP
THE BUDDHA OF BREWER STREET
WHISPERS OF BETRAYAL
The Francis Urquhart trilogy
HOUSE OF CARDS
TO PLAY THE KING
THE FINAL CUT
Other titles
WALL GAMES
LAST MAN TO DIE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL DOBBS
Michael Dobbs’ first novel, House of Cards, launched the career of the villainous Francis Urquhart, one of the most memorable fictional characters of recent years, who was immortalized by Ian Richardson in three award-winning BBC TV series. His books have foretold the downfall of Prime Ministers and the growing turmoil within the Royal Family. His most recent novels, both featuring Tom Goodfellowe, are Goodfellowe MP and The Buddha of Brewer Street.
For more than two decades Michael Dobbs has been at the right hand of political controversy. He was at Mrs Thatcher’s side as she took her first step into Downing Street as Prime Minister, and was a key aide to John Major when he was voted out. In between times he was bombed in Brighton, banished from Chequers and blamed for failing to secure a Blair – Major television debate. He is now one of the country’s leading political commentators and a BBC TV presenter of current affairs.
His experiences have led him to be described as ‘Westminster’s baby-faced hit man’ and ‘a man who, in Latin America, would have been shot’.
COPYRIGHT
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are
the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to
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Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2000
Copyright © Michael Dobbs 2000
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