'This autobiography, in spite of all the pains I have taken and
the research I have put into it, is necessarily fiction. The fact that
names, dates, and places seem to correspond with such things that
may have occurred in real life, does not guarantee the truth of
these stories. So, in all candour, I wish to warn the reader not
to confuse this story with reality. For God only knows the truth.
I am hereby trying, in my finite way, to set down some facts
which seem real and true to me. At best, this is only a tale that
is told.'

No honest biographer could say other.

-xii-