19 NOVEMBER 1983, Page 26

Tolstoy's flight

Sir: Count Nikolai Tolstoy deceives himself. He has not written 'a low-key and in part ironical approach' to Tolstoy's flight. He does not possess the literary resource. His conceited and foolish letter (12 November) (each paragraph of which contains an unfortunate error) compels me to say that what grieved me most about his account was his failure to grasp the relevant and documented facts, the shallowness of his thought, and the banality of his style.

John Stewart Collis

Park House, Abinger Common, Dorking