What makes a great letter-writer? There is only one rule really: the talent to write well, using words with skill, energy and vividness, drawing the reader irresistibly into whatever subject is discussed, without self-consciousness or posturing. It helps if you are one of those rare people who stand above their peers, not merely for their intellectually wide bearings but for their magnanimity, their largeness of spirit. The two don’t often go together.
These thoughts have come into my mind as I have been reading Simon Sebag-Montefiore’s Written in History: Letters That Changed The World. Obviously such an anthology is personal, reflecting the selector’s own tastes and interests. I am forced to say this collection is a very mixed bag. It includes some letters of genuine historic interest but all too many of those selected suggest that Sebag-Montefiore’s own inclinations too often lie in revelations of the seamier side of public figures, especially their interest in sex and decadence. The two often go together.
