It is only necessary to cite the cases of Gwilym and Megan Lloyd George to show that a politician's biological heirs are not necessarily the infallible custodians of his or her political legacy. The fact that Alan Ryan's view of Bertrand Russell and my own are very closely similar is not, therefore, proof that we are both right. It is merely proof that our perceptions are compatible with a thorough knowledge of the evidence, and perhaps reason for suspecting that he and I view the evidence from fairly similar political standpoints.

LRB 1 September 1988 | PDF Download