ISAIAH BERLIN LETTERS 1928–1946

This first selected volume of the celebrated philosopher's prodigious correspondence reveals an intimately charming "Shaya" (as he familiarly signed himself) to match the erudite Oxford don and brilliant conversationalist. The two decades covered here take the Baltic-born Berlin (1909–1997) from his adopted homeland of England, where he wholeheartedly assimilated himself in the scholarly world, to diplomatic postings in wartime Washington, D.C., and Soviet Russia on the eve of the Cold War; he also reports from holidays and tours in Austria, Italy and Palestine during the mounting tensions in the 1930s. Throughout, the facets of Berlin's character scintillate, whether indulging in Bridesheadesque banter with fellow philosophers J.L. Austin and A.J. Ayer; critiquing Tolstoy and Henry James with Stephen Spender and Elizabeth Bowen; debating Zionism with Jewish grandees Felix Frankfurter and Victor Rothschild; or reassuring his parents about his health. Despite the sheer number of letters, there are gaps in the biographic record, including, disappointingly, his watershed stay in Leningrad in 1945–1946. With Berlin's sizable social circles, penchant for name-dropping and ubiquitous scholarly allusions, Hardy's numerous footnotes are indispensable (and sometimes wryly amusing). Likewise, his choice of supplementary material, from interviews to Berlin's early school essay on freedom, enriches a collection already overflowing with Berlin's favorite subjects: intellectual insights and indiscreet gossip. 75 photos, and maps not seen by PW . (July)