I spent some time looking for the title of that other book, also out in ‘98 or ‘99, and found bupkis. I think it flopped in original, but got picked up by Penguin Publishing. IOW, I have very specific recollections about the book, but have no idea about its title or author. [blush]
And it could very well be that the one you’ve been reading is the one that wound up on Penguin...
Mine is Penguin Books, copyright, 2000.
Forgot to add, the Author is Giles Milton. First published in Great Britain, 1999 by Hodder and Stouhton and in the USA, 1999 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.