'THE TRUE BLUE'
SIR,—There are one or two points in Mr. Cyril Ray's review of my book The True Blue which I think could stand a riposte. Mr. Ray questions my choice of subject, surely a very basic consideration for a biographer. This is a matter which has not troubled other reviewers unduly (viz. Bernard Fergusson, Sunday Times: `Mr. Alexander has chosen an excel- lent hero . . .'; John Connell, Evening News: 'Michael Alexander has a magnificent subject . . Mr. Ray's suggested reason—that there wasn't a book on Burnaby already—is in fact invalidated by a glance at the bibliography, which lists two earlier lives. True, they are unreadable, and at least he credits me with readability.
Apart from the fact that he led a widely adventur- ous life over a period that has not been much covered, my reason for choosing Burnaby may be found in the title. Most of my anecdotes, utterances, and even epigraphs are intendedly illustrative of True Bluism, a state of mind that has never, to my knowledge, before been revealed with such a rich- ness of material. (I am afraid; though, that Mr. Ray wrongly assumes Burnaby to be the originator of
the story of how he killed thirteen natives with twenty-three cartridges. It used to be told by the naval officer who lent him the shotgun, at El Teb.) We know that the True Blue tradition is not yet dead; that it may contain the stuff of Fascism I do not deny. There is a lot to be read between the lines. Perhaps I have assumed too great a degree of perception in my readers.—Yours faithfully, MICHAEL ALEXANDER 40 Harrington Road, SW7
Previous page
