My primary thanks, as always, to my incredible wife, Claudia, my partner in life and work. I’d also like to thank my brilliant agent, Mark Lucas, and wonderful editor, Bill Scott-Kerr – and indeed Eloisa Clegg and all the fantastic team at Transworld. Thanks also to Rayhan Demytrie for her help in Tbilisi. And thanks to those in the Security Services who assisted but would prefer to remain ‘in the background’.