I dedicate this book, written sincerely and with moderation, to the handful of people who have remained close to me throughout this ordeal—my family and a few faithful friends. Certain of them have spontaneously helped in the preparation and presentation of this work. I thank them deeply. Thanks to them I have been able to surmount the immense sadness of having to observe, powerless and the victim of an extreme ostracism, the sinking of a crown jewel of French industry to which I devoted nearly a quarter of a century of my professional life.

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