Born in Brazil to English parents, Alan Riding trained first as an economist, then as a lawyer, before opting for a career in international journalism. After time at the United Nations in New York, he spent the next 13 years in Mexico as a correspondent, first for The Financial Times and The Economist, then for The New York Times. Before moving to Brazil in 1985, he published Distant Neighbors: A Portrait of the Mexicans, originally written in English for a US audience, but which also caused a stir in Mexico. In 2000, a new edition of the book was published with an afterword that included the end of the PRI regime. Now, 25 years later, a new edition is being published with a new afterword, this time inspired by the crisis in relations between the two countries. Still with The New York Times, Riding was also a correspondent in Paris for many years and is the co-author of books on Shakespeare, opera and architecture, and most recently of And the Show Went On; Cultural Life in Nazi-occupied Paris. Riding visits Mexico frequently, but lives in Paris with his wife, fellow journalist Marlise Simons.