Together, the pieces collected here form both a concealed professional autobiography and a commentary on British cultural life.

David Hare was born in Sussex in 1947. He is the author of twenty-eight plays for the stage, sixteen of which have been seen at the National Theatre. These plays include Plenty, The Secret Rapture, Skylight, Amy's View, Via Dolorosa, Stuff Happens, Gethsemane and The Power of Yes. In 1993 three plays about the Church, the Law and the Labour Party - Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges and The Absence of War - were presented in repertory in the Olivier Theatre. His many screenplays for cinema and television include Licking Hitler, Damage, The Hours and The Reader. He directed his most recent television film, Page Eight, for the BBC.