Henry Perowne is a contented man - a succ essful neurosurgeon, the devoted husband of Rosalind, a newspaper lawy er, and proud father of two grown-up children, one a promising poet, t he other a talented blues musician. Unusually, he wakes before dawn, d rawn to the window of his bedroom and filled with a growing unease. Wh at troubles him as he looks out at the night sky is the state of the w orld - the impending war against Iraq, a gathering pessimism since 9/1 1, and a fear that his city, its openness and diversity, and his happy family life are under threat. Later, Perowne makes his way to his wee kly squash game through London streets filled with hundreds of thousan ds of anti-war protestors. A minor car accident brings him into a conf rontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive,