Be that as it may, it's still a preface and prefaces are ultimately works of puffery. They are not independent, third-party sources at all. If Pons thought Polak's work was so wonderful, I have to ask why he didn't write a review for Le Monde. In my view, most prefaces are the equivalent of someone putting "testimonials" on a business website. It's always good to get "named" people because it makes the business (like the author) somehow look better. In any case, it should be removed definitely from the lead and put in a lower part of the text (if at all). Currently, it's misleading to open the article with that citation.