BR TO ARTHUR KOESTLER, 3 MAY 1946
BRACERS 57924. TLS(X). Edinburgh U. Library
Proofread by K. Blackwell

Trinity College,
CAMBRIDGE.
3rd May, 1946.

Arthur Koestler, Esq.,
Bwlch Geyn,
Manod,
Blaenau Ffestiniog,
North Wales.

Dear Koestler,

I received by mistake a letter which you intended for Gollancz, while he received the letter that you intended for me. I was somewhat surprised to find that you told Gollancz you were sending him a draft which I had approved,1 while in fact the draft by no means satisfied the objections which I had asked my wife to communicate to you. This was especially the case in regard to Article 8, to which I had two main objections: a. that the preamble still suggested the possibility of using psychological disarmament as a quid pro quo for territorial concessions. b. that the section about Reuter and Tass appeared to me unworkable.

I felt obliged to ring up Gollancz at once and tell him that the draft as it stood was not agreed to by me.

I was amazed to learn from my wife that you had refused to accept her as my plenipotentiary, after having yourself suggested that she should represent me, and had accused her of not accurately reporting my opinions as to the draft.

I hope that on reflection you will realize that co-operation is impossible if such incidents are to be expected, and that an apology is due from you, both to my wife and to me.

Yours sincerely,
<signed> Russell.

• 1

  a draft which I had approved The draft was originally George Orwell’s, but all indications are that Koestler considerably reworked it. He published the proposal for “psychological disarmament” in “Challenge to Russia;  Lift the Iron Curtain”, New York Times Magazine, 10 March 1946, pp. 7, 43–5. See the appendix in Collected Papers 24.