The gentlefolk at Christies auction house continue to show remarkable patience with the presence of an author with no possibility whatsoever to purchase any of the items he hovers around. I am especially grateful for Amelia Fitzalan-Howard’s surprising eagerness to offer hospitality, wisdom, insight, and answers to what I am sure appeared to be an unending stream of questions.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth recently opened an exhibition in Buckhingham Palace of antiques and paintings collected by one of her forebears, King George III. I would like to extend my thanks to the staff who prepared both the exhibit and the excellent brochure. They proved an invaluable source of information for the period from which many of the antiques in this book were drawn.
The story of Communist Party and KGB bosses secretly attempting to establish a Party-controlled mini-economy for no other reason than greed is true. I would like to thank the BBC’s Panorama news team for their excellent coverage of the story, and for supplying me with most helpful documentation as this book was being developed.
A very special thanks must be extended to two leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Anthony in London and Metropolitan Ioann in Saint Petersburg. They were most kind in their offers of assistance and contacts. In both cases, I was an unknown American Protestant who simply wrote and asked questions. In both cases, I was answered with open-handed kindness. Thank you.
Bishop Kallistos, of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in England, is author of numerous books and articles on orthodox faith. I found his book The Orthodox Church to be a wonderful introduction both to the history and the present-day status of this church. I am also most grateful for the hours he so willingly shared with me. His kind assistance went far beyond discussing with me such painful subjects as KGB infiltration into the Russian Orthodox heirarchy. He was also most open in sharing what Christian faith means to a Russian Orthodox, where it parallels the Protestant faith and where it diverges. He is a kind and Spirit-filled man, whose assistance added greatly to the work on this book.
Diakon Vsevolod Chaplin, personal assistant to the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, outlined a number of current issues facing the church in Russia today. He was open and frank about the trials besetting the church, both from within and without. He discussed the church’s historical perspective to evangelical movements and the impressions of today. He then made introductions for me, both with the senior bishops and Metropolitans in Russia and with the Orthodox community leaders in Great Britain. This book’s attempt to portray the Orthodox church’s position with authenticity stems in large part from his very kind assistance.
Father Archimindrit Simon is personal assistant to the Metropolitan Ioann of Saint Petersburg. He was an extremely erudite individual, who helped to place the current problems and issues facing the Russian Orthodox community in simple, understandable terms. This was no small feat, as everything besetting the church today is a legacy of that which has come before. He and all his staff were burdened with the work of ten. I am indeed grateful that he would nonetheless take an entire morning to educate me.
Bishop Michael Kuchmiak is head of the Ukrainian Eastern Rites Catholic Church for all of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. I was humbled by his willingness to rearrange extremely busy schedules to talk with me in depth about his church and the crisis it faces today as it emerges from forty-five years of illegality and persecution.
Marina Karetnikova is a deacon and lay minister in the Baptist church of Saint Petersburg. She is also a teacher at the newly opened Bible college in that city. She was extremely helpful in granting me a living history of the Russian Baptist movement and of the courage and faith demonstrated by its believers through these tremendously difficult times.
Father Graham Woolfenden was trained as a “Biritual” priest, meaning that he was most familiar with the Eastern Rites churches, as well as with the differences between them and the Catholic liturgy. He was most helpful in granting me this essential overview required before in-depth research could be started.
Valerie Morozov is Director of Education of the Bibles for Everyone Society of Russia. Their primary purpose is twofold: to supply Bibles in modern Russian and other Soviet tongues and to teach Bible classes to school-age children. Their number of classes has increased from ten in 1989 to one hundred thirty in 1992. They currently operate classes in foster homes, orphanages, hospitals, and reformatories. I am very grateful for his taking the time to discuss the situation facing them as they try to set up classes inside former Communist-run school systems, and for the overview of Christianity in modern Russian society. They are in dire need of both teaching aids and financial support.
DAVIS BUNN, a professional novelist for over twenty years, is the author of numerous national bestsellers with sales totaling more than six million copies. His work has been published in sixteen languages, and his critical acclaim includes three Christy Awards for excellence in fiction. Formerly an international business executive working in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Bunn is now a lecturer in creative writing and Writer in Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University. He and his wife, Isabella, divide their time between the English countryside and the coast of Florida.
Books by Davis Bunn
The Book of Hours
The Great Divide
Winner Take All
The Lazarus Trap
Elixir
Imposter
Lion of Babylon
Rare Earth
All Through the Night
My Soul to Keep
ACTS OF FAITH*
The Centurion’s Wife • The Hidden Flame
The Damascus Way
SONG OF ACADIA*
The Meeting Place • The Sacred Shore
The Birthright • The Distant Beacon
The Beloved Land
HEIRS OF ACADIA†
The Solitary Envoy • The Innocent Libertine
The Noble Fugitive • The Night Angel
Falconer’s Quest
*with Janette Oke †with Isabella Bunn
Winter Palace Page 33