The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell, Volume 2

Bertrand Russell was a towering intellectual figure of the Twentieth century. In his nineties, he also dictated more than twelve letters a day. This acclaimed second volume of his letters written between 1914 and 1970 provides a unique insight into Russell and covers most of his adult life. Russell was a philosophical genius but also an impassioned campaigner for peace and social reform and these letters reveal the astonishing range of his correspondence. There are intense personal letters to his lovers Ottoline Morrell and Colette O'Niel and in letters to Niels Bohr, Jean-Paul Sartre, Einstein and Lyndon Johnson, we are given a unique insight into Russell's views on education, war, and the Russian Revolution. Invaluable for anyone interested in Russell, these letters also present a fascinating picture of Twentieth century history. The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell: The Public Years 1914-1970 is also available in paperback from Routledge.

“'These are not mere selection of letters; they are letters expertly chosen and brillantly annotated, with a running commentary situating each one in the complex circumstances of Russell's life...nothing else written about Russell's life, including recent biographies, comes near it in value...a remarkable document about a remarkable life.'- Literary Review, April 2001 'Pray silence for the sage of Plas Penrhyn - possibly the most celebrated English intellectual of the 20th century. At times one feels that if Russell had not existed, Nancy Mitford or Evelyn Waugh would have had to invent him.'- The Times With the publication of the second volume of The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell, Nicholas Griffin has completed a work of impressive scholarship.- Russell: The Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies”

'Anybody who reads this splendid and revealing selection of letters will soon feel that he knows Russell. Nicholas Griffin completes a two-volume epistolary biography unrivalled for its scholarship in the over-populated world of Russell studies.' - The Economist; 'The most useful and accessible introduction to Russell's life that any reader could possibly wish for... There is righteous indignation as well as impish humour in these letters, but no wilful deception or malice; and that is why, even when his beliefs and behaviour verge on the absurd, these letters convey such a powerful sense of the overwhelming likeability of the man.' - Noel Malcolm, The Sunday Telegraph, London; 'Pray silence for the sage of Plas Penrhyn - possibly the most celebrated English intellectual of the 20th century... At times one feels that if russell had not existed, Nancy Mitford or Evelyn Waugh would have had to invent him.' - The Times, London; 'Nicholas Griffin has done a superb job of introducing and annotating the letters, producing not merely a collection but an 'epistolary biography', with much narrative momentum and few loose threads.' - Washington Post; 'These are not mere selections of letters; they are letters expertly chosen and brilliantly annotated, with a running commentary situating each one in the complex circumstances of Russell's life. The commentary amounts to a fully fledged biography when read consecutively - a markedly perceptive, sympathetic and accurate biography. Nothing else written about Russell's life, including recent biographies, comes near it in value.' - A.C. Grayling, Literary Review, London; 'Nicholas Griffin comes as close as anyone could do to being the ideal sifter and sorter of Russell's epistolary legacy... a considerable feat. It is good to have such a credible picture of Russell.' - Alan Ryan, The Times Literary Supplement, London; 'Often, Booker Prize judges are shockingly disparaged. Having been one myself, I think I can vouch for their honesty. But how, this year, did they fail to recognise the genius of Melvyn Bragg's A Son of War... And, if you overlooked it in the anti-liberal deluge, The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell: The Public Years 1914-1970 (Routledge [pound]25, pp704), edited by Nicholas Griffin. On almost every page the old boy scatters his enemies with a single swipe.' - Michael Foot, Observer Books of the Year

Nicholas Griffin

This long-awaited second volume of Russell's best letters reveals the inner workings of a philosophical genius and an impassioned campaigner for peace and social reform. The letters, only three of which have been published before, cover most of Russell's adult life, a period in which he wrote over thirty books, including his famous History of Western Philosophy . Richly illustrated with photographs from Russell's life, the collection includes letters to Ho Chi Minh, Tito, Jawaharlal Nehru and Albert Einstein.

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