Unbridled spirits

In his review of Playboys and Mayfair Men: Crime, Class, Masculinity, and Fascism in 1930s London, by Angus McLaren (Books, 23 November), Clive Bloom writes that “…the Mayfair men finally atoned for their sins…in the cockpit of a Spitfire”. If that is really true, then doesn’t the winning of the Battle of Britain as a vital holding action in the eventual defeat of mid-20th century fascism mean that we owe our freedoms today, in part, to their unbridled wildness?

What then does this suggest for today’s political correctness, “safe spaces” and proliferating sensitivities…?

Paul G. Ellis
Business school tutor
London

Send to

Letters should be sent to: THE.Letters@tesglobal.com
Letters for publication in Times Higher Education should arrive by 9am Monday.
View terms and conditions.