BRACERS Record Detail for 131617
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Re the Russian Revolution and the meeting at Leeds. "I travelled to Leeds with Ramsay MacDonald, and he was soberly optimistic. It seemed as if the Russian revolutionaries were out to create a Utopia, not only in their own country, but everywhere. It was a happy moment, but, alas, a brief one."
The carbon is available at record 88454.
The dictation is available at record 7674.
BR TO RONALD GRAY / HAMMERSMITH BOOKSHOP, 21 NOV. 1964
BRACERS 131617. TLS. Internet print
Proofread by K. Blackwell
from: The Earl Russell, O.M.,F.R.S.,
<letterhead>
Plas Penrhyn,
Penrhyndeudraeth,
Merioneth.
21 November, 1964.
Dear Mr. Gray,
Thank you for your letter of November 16. I well remember the excitement in connection with the early days of the Russian Revolution. The meeting at Leeds that you ask about took place between the February Revolution and that of October — that is to say, at the time when it looked as if Russia were about to become democratic. All the people of liberal feeling in the West had been troubled by the alliance with Czarist Russia. They were further troubled by the fact that the war seemed as if it would go on forever. When the Russian Revolution took place, practically everybody in the West rejoiced. Even the British Embassy in Petrograd took a part in furthering the Revolution. Those of us who had been troubled by the alliance with Czarist Russia felt a new surge of hope, which, unfortunately, proved illusory after a few months. I travelled to Leeds with Ramsey Macdonalda, and he was soberly optimistic. It seemed as if the Russianb revolutionaries were out to create Utopia, not only in their own country, but everywhere. It was a happy moment, but, alas, a brief one.
Yours sincerely,
<signed> Russell
P.S.: If you can make a message out of the above, you are entirely at liberty to do so.
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