This is to be a book about myself but, even before I begin it, I am painfully aware of the egotistical atmosphere which the unavoidable use of the personal pronouns creates. I have hitherto declared that I would not write an autobiography, but a consideration of circumstances convinces me that an autobiography is the only form any personal relation can now take. For the press has so widely and so frequently exploited certain events of my life--impossible to omit--that disguise is far out of the question. Fiction could not hide me, nor an assumed name, nor even no name at all. Why, then, write the book?.
