Dear Bertie: a selection of letters to Bertrand Russell
When Bertrand Russell’s three-volume Autobiography (1967-1969) was published, it included transcriptions of dozens of letters Russell had received over the course of his life. In other words, those letters helped to tell his story. We honour that practice here with a selection of 40 letters from Russell’s archive that, along with their introductions, provide glimpses into the life of one of the greatest public intellectuals, peace activists, and philosophers of the 20th century. In so doing, we help answer two questions we frequently hear from visitors: “Who was Bertrand Russell?” and “What’s in his archives?”