A few years ago, after an enjoyable match at the nearby Victoria Cricket Club, I arrived at Rustico, a fine restaurant in the small village of Flatts at the western end of Harrington Sound in Bermuda. The fellow just leaving seemed vaguely familiar, albeit more luridly dressed than usual, and my dining companion informed me that, yes, indeed, it was Michael Bloomberg, the famous Mayor of New York City. “He’s here all the time.”

“All the time?”

“Well, he’s a regular.” Our waiter confirmed that he knows them all by name. Sir John Swan, the former premier of the British colony and …