ALAN RIDING is a Brazilian-born Briton who studied economics and law before becoming a journalist and writer. Working successively for Reuters, The Financial Times, The Economist and The New York Times, he reported from the United Nations in New York, Latin America and Western Europe. During much of his career, Riding covered political and economic affairs. During the final 12 years before he retired from journalism in 2007, he was the European cultural correspondent for The New York Times, based in Paris. In 1980, Riding was awarded the Maria Moors Cabot Prize by Columbia University for his coverage of Latin America and he has also been honored by the Overseas Press Club and the Latin American Studies Association in the United States. He is author of the best-selling book, "Distant Neighbors: A Portrait of the Mexicans," and co-author of "Essential Shakespeare Handbook" and "Opera." His most recent book, published in 2010, is "And The Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris." It has since also been published in French, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese and Polish.