It will include two more books by Plate, one on former Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the other about Ban Ki-moon, the current UN Secretary General. 'These three are statement books for my career. I've been doing Asia in 800- to 900-word takes, and I wanted to nail down certain large personalities and themes in a longer format,' Plate says.

'I hope that people can pick up this first book in 50 years and get a feel for what he was like. I didn't want a biography; that's already been done, but I wanted you to feel like you're in the room with him.'

Plate chose a film script format, presenting a full dialogue between Lee and himself along with a narrator's commentary. 'I read dozens of screenplays to develop some technique; from how you set a dialogue to how you show body movement, so that the reader is the camera, as on a set,' he explains.

Plate, who has now written seven books, admits he finds the process of writing books much more intense. 'To do a book on Lee Kuan Yew or Mahathir takes total concentration,' he says. 'Youhave to go into that dark writing room and filter everything out, and really concentrate and focus in a way that is very different from writing an 800-word column.'

Over the years, he has interviewed a number of high-profile statesmen, from Bill Clinton to Junichiro Koizumi and Tony Blair, and, while he readily admits some politicians are harder to interview than others, he found his time with Lee to be pretty straightforward.

'Some people when you interview them it's like squeezing oil out of water. Some people need to be warmed up, maybe start with a joke. For example, when I interviewed Koizumi, I made a bit of fun about our unorthodox hairstyles. It cracked the tension and it led to an interview much longer than scheduled. You don't need this with Lee Kuan Yew. He doesn't need jokes, he doesn't need flattery, you just start right in. He knows what he wants to say and he has plenty to say. He's filled with inside observations. From a journalistic standpoint I've always found him a joy to interview and I've never left an interview feeling cheated.'

Plate's first interview with Lee was in 1997 when he started his syndicated column, and he recalls how astonished he was by the range of Lee's interests and the depth of his insights. He says he finds the elder statesman very witty, though he also describes him in the book as a modern Machiavellian master.

For the book, Plate met Lee over two late afternoons (spending a total of four hours) at the Istana, the presidential office. 'I felt this was the right amount of time, because I had plenty of material from previous interviews,' he says.

As they started, Plate recalls being very nervous about his book project, 'not about interviewing him but about pulling it off'.

'I wasn't nervous about being with him, or whether he would give me good material or not; but whether I could produce a distinctive product and whether my strategy to do it almost like a literary screenplay would be considered appropriate for the subject and helpful for the reader. I just thought the book should have a documentary value.'

As it turned out, Plate says, the sessions were 'intense' but 'not unpleasant'.

In the book, written in small vignette chapters, Plate explores his subject's thinking about a broad range of international topics including the rise of China, press freedom and his perspective on previous American presidents.

'He didn't refuse to answer any questions; but I know there are certain questions he doesn't like, like about the incompetence of the United States Congress,' Plate says. And while Lee got the opportunity to smooth some of his initial quotes, Plate says 98 per cent of what he said made it into print. 'I don't have a problem showing him his quotes. I'm not doing gutter journalism and don't want to misquote him. My experience is that he will not pull back much, he will just smooth some comments,' Plate says.

Most surprising was to see a more personal side to Lee, in particular his feelings for his family. 'Lee's pride about his son [Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong]'s achievements was overwhelming. I thought it was charming, frankly.'

The author admits that while vignettes of Lee's personal life are revealed throughout - such as keeping in touch with his wife every day via Skype when he was travelling and she was sick - he doesn't go into much more detail or ask too personal questions. 'I'm never going to do a People magazine-style book. Considering the enormity of some of these issues, I think I strike the right balance. Maybe because I'm an American journalist and I see the deterioration of American journalism into the cellar of Tiger Wood's life and the number of strip clubs he went to ... I'm not a prude at all, but that's the part of my profession I dislike the most.'

The next in the series, based on conversations with Mahathir, will be released early next year.