LET ME BEGIN on a personal note. On September 10, 2001, I had worked long into the night making revisions to the book that you are now holding. So I was still asleep at 7 a.m., Pacific Standard Time, when a relative called and blurted out something about the World Trade Center in New York City having been attacked by terrorists. Still groggy, I flicked on the TV. From that moment on, I?like millions of other people in America and around the world?found myself glued to the images of that horrific tragedy. Over the next few days, my deadline seemed unimportant. My book seemed unimportant. The project came to a standstill. Like much of the world, I was waiting to exhale?and I wasn?t sure exactly how or when that would happen.