they are all at edinburgh university. >> what got you the bulk of what you have in this book? >> diligence is obviously one of them. i speak a number of languages. it makes it easy or write and research and french, german, spanish, and russian without too much difficulty. i draw the line at hebrew. that was one element. the other thing is that i have always been a long distance runner. it when i was in school, i was hopeless at the sprint, but i could run long distance. people ask me if i got bored. i enjoyed every minute of it. in many ways, this is my novel. it is a novel of research. it is an intricate jigsaw puzzle. >> where did you write it? >> i wrote it partly at cornell and partly in new york and a great deal of it at a summer house that we have in new hampshire, close to my wife's birth place. >> what will make this a success for you? >> this book is put together in a rather sophisticated fashion. i would like some appreciation for the art that went into it. the construction of it, the pacing. secondly, the ideas in it. it is a kind of primer on 20th- century politics

he sent me off to edinburgh medical school at 16 years of age.was bored with the endless lectures on material. you had to mix your own pills and potions. i'm much preferred going by the seashore with one of the teachers to was an invertebrate zoologist named plants. we would go to this place with a number full name. there i discovered starfish and jellyfish and anemones. i really wouldn't do well in medical school because first of all, i hated the sight of blood. i remember one time, operated on people in those days before the invention of blessed anesthesiology. they would stuff you down and cut off whatever they were going to cut off. shove something in your mouth. so i saw that done to a young child in the operating theater. it sickened me so deeply. i ran out of that operating theater never to return. and so ended my medical career. well, my father said, well, if you can't be a doctor let's see if we can make a character out of you. that would be very respectable you. you could go to the best lawn parties. you could save souls and collect bea

he sent me off to edinburgh medical school at 16 years of age.rial medical, you had to mix your own pills and potions. i much preferred going by the sea shore with one of the teachers who was an invertebrae zoologist and we would go to this place with a wonderful name in the scottish bay called the first of fourth and there at the first of fourth, i discould have had star fish and jelly fish and namines, and i really wouldn't do well in medical school, because first of all, i hated the site of broad, and i remember one time, you know the way they operated on people in those days before the invention of blessed anesthesia and chloroform is they would just strap you down and cut off whatever they were going to cut off, shove something in your mouth so you couldn't scream, and i saw that done to a young child in the operating theater. it sickened me so deeply. that i ran out of that operating theater, never to return and so ended my medical career. well, my father said, well, if you can't be a doctor, let's see if we can make a clergyman out of you.