Churchillian hindsight
From Keith P. Mountford Sir: I feel that before rushing into critical print Michael Lind (Churchill for dummies', 24 April) should have first read what Winston S. Churchill said in the House of Commons on 12 November 1940: 'It is not given to human beings, happily for them, for otherwise life would be intolerable, to foresee or predict to any large extent the unfolding course of events. In one phase men seem to have been right, in another they seem to have been wrong. Then again, a few years later, when the perspective of time has lengthened, all stands in a different setting. There is a new proportion. There is another scale of values. History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passing of former days.'
Keith Mountford
Javea, Spain
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