Richard Davenport-Hines in TLS: ‘Anyone who thinks of writing a book on the history of intelligence secrets, especially if they have not tried the subject before, should begin by reading Harold Nicolson’s account of meeting Proust during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. (…) “Mais précisez, mon cher monsieur, n’allez pas trop vite”.’

And: ‘Edith Suschitzky was born in 1908. Tudor Hart was the surname she acquired by a brief marriage in 1933 to a Cambridge-educated physician and communist political activist, Alexander Tudor Hart.’

As well: ‘Winnicott was known for overinvolvement with his patients’ families; his connection to Tudor Hart was probably sexually consummated. The letter by which he severed contacts with her is preserved in Security Service files, and quoted by Santini: its patronizing chilliness is deadly.’

Winnicott and the spy. The patronizing chilliness doesn’t come as a surprise.

Most people cannot live up to their own standards.

(a sf 2140)