As is written in the preface, I see an empire crumbling, beliefs collapsing, heroes falling, particularly in the great changes happening in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of the Soviet Empire, the coming down of the Berlin Wall. I was there. Feelings amid the ruins always run particularly deep.
如序文中所寫的，我看到一個個帝國的解體、信仰的崩潰、英雄的墮落，尤其在東歐大變、蘇聯帝國解體、柏林圍牆倒塌時，我身在其中，人站在廢墟之中的感覺特別深刻，這就是這個題目的來由。