Sam Bourne - The Final Reckoning

As the preceding note stressed, I am especially indebted to those who have already, in non-fiction, charted the extraordinary events that stand at the core of this novel. Besides works by Joseph Harmatz and Rich Cohen, I want to emphasize the gratitude I feel towards the late Michael Elkins for bringing the DIN story to light. His book, Forged in Fury , had an enormous impact on me when I first read it two decades ago and it retains its power today.

A long list of others gave personal help in bringing this project to fruition. Ian Williams, Marc Quarterman, Andrew Gilmour and Sam Daws were all extremely generous with their insiders' knowledge of the United Nations, while Philippe Sands QC lent invaluable advice on international law. Dr Nick Haining shared his copious medical expertise, while Raymond Shaw let me benefit from his serious brainpower on the criminal law. Jim Dwyer of The New York Times gave me more time than I had any right to ask and deserves his reputation as the leading police reporter in America. Steve Coombes gave excellent tips on the tough business of surveillance and security, while David Learmount of Flight International opened a window on the shadowy world of private aviation. I'm grateful too to Lester Harris and his team at the Brenner Centre; once again to the indefatigable Anna Tzelniker for her mastery of Yiddish; to Eric Silver and Ruth Tzur for sharing their memories of Michael Elkins; and to Cordelia Borchardt, Jon Henley, Vic Keegan, Seumas Milne and Jay Rayner, for letting me raid their deep knowledge bank.

Special thanks go, once more, to Jonathan Cummings for his energetic ability to research even the most elusive fact. Jane Johnson, along with Sarah Hodgson and Fiona McIntosh at Harper Collins, brings sheer professionalism, skill and wisdom to everything she does. It was a conversation with my agent Jonny Geller that first inspired this book and I still marvel at his loyalty, insight and unerring faith in me.

Finally, I must thank my beloved wife Sarah and my two young sons, Jacob and Sam, whose patience has been stretched during the gestation of this book. If this book dwells on a dark past, I know that with them I am building a bright future.

Sam Bourne is the pseudonym of Jonathan Freedland, an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. He has written a weekly column for the Guardian since 1997, having previously served as the paper's Washington correspondent.

In the annual What the Papers Say Awards of 2002 Jonathan Freedland was named Columnist of the Year. His first novel, The Righteous Men , was chosen as a Richard and Judy Summer Read in 2006 and hit Number One on the Sunday Times bestseller list. His second novel, The Last Testament , was a top ten bestseller and has sold over 250,000 copies in the UK alone. He lives in London with his wife and their two children.