A cold climate
Sir: Charles Moore (The Spectator's Notes, 22 September) works himself into a lather over the Mitford sisters, reeling in admiration at their 'unique, fearless way of looking at things' despite their lack of any formal education. Had they attended school and university, they might have met ordinary people and turned out less self-delusional and snobbish. Mr Moore even appears to admire the ghastly pro-Nazi Diana. Once, after I had interviewed her husband, the Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, she wrote to a friend: 'The Evening Standard sent this polite young man to interview Tom [as Mosley was known]. But it was only later that I discovered he was Jewish. They are a very clever people and come in all shapes and sizes.'
Paul Callan London SW10 Sir: Oh, come off it, Mr Moore. Unity Mitford 'this innocent, deluded young girl' indeed. May I remind you that well before September 1939 there were many young women — the Wrens, Waaf and Fany — who were fully conscious of what Hitler was, although of course very few of them, if any, had the advantage of knowing such an extraordinary range of people.
Peggy W Adams Sporle, Norfolk
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