This book, the result of a long investigation, was
published first in France in 1995. I would like to
thank my editor, the ever rigorous and attentive
Francois Gèze, who was my first reader. In the trans-
lation of this work, we set in motion all the resources
of the Internet, making many round trips between
Paris and the U.S. I want to express my gratitude to
my translator Gui Massai; Erika Goldman, of Plen-
um Publishing, knew how to tap into the resources
of her indulgent francophilia to smooth out, effi-
ciently and with humor, the difficulties of the enter-
prise. I know how much this publication owes to her,
and can't thank her enough. Several expert read-
ers—Dr. Dorothy E. Denning, Jean-Louis Gassée,
Chris Goggans, Dr. Robbin Laird, Winn Schwartau,
and Robert D. Steele among them—have gone over
the manuscript in part or entirely and made re-
marks and suggestions. They were very helpful, and
I'm extremely grateful to them. If any errors have re-
mained in the text, I take full responsibility for them.