2 MARCH 1991, Page 24

Wrong Mann

Sir: In his review of Golo Mann's Re- miniscences and Reflections (Books, 26 January) Piers Paul Read attributes the following quote to Golo Mann: 'They will publish excerpts [of Thomas Mann's lost diaries] in the Volkischer Beobachter. They will ruin everything, they will ruin me. My life will never be right again.' In fact, as our author has pointed out, this outcry is Thomas Mann's. Golo only recorded it in his diary, as the book correctly shows.

Helen Sprott

Faber and Faber, 3 Queen Square, London WC1