Acknowledgements No man is an island. John Donne I would like to offer my gratitude and appreciation to all those at Pearson who have supported me while writing this book. Special thanks go to Samantha Jackson and her team for their patience and nurturing of this project, and to Richard Stagg for encour- aging me to write the initial proposal. Thank you to all my clients and colleagues who have given me permission to use examples of their emails to illustrate best prac- tice ­ whether by name or anonymously. I am also most grateful