Big-hearted Annan
From Lord Thomas of Swynnerton Sir: I have only just seen Paul Johnson's article about Noel Annan (And another thing, 25 March). In the good old days of England, to whose virtues your journal often pays eloquent tribute, such a denunci- ation of the recently deceased would have seemed quite uncouth. Noel Annan was an immensely cultivated man, generous and eloquent, witty and enthusiastic, big-heart- ed and life-enhancing. His wonderful voice
LETTERS
warmed the souls of all who heard him speak, both in public and in private. His last speech in the House of Lords compared Lord Cranbome to Comus. Judging from his utterly misplaced comments, Paul John- son could not have read Noel's noble books, Our Age and Changing Enemies, both of which recall, superbly, his own brave and unusual intellectual trajectory.
Hugh Thomas
House of Lords, London SW1
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