Letter: No European war

Sir: The current wrangling over the genesis of Second World War fighters is interesting; but more so is the fact that apparently no one questions the wild assertion by Jonathan Glancey (article, 8 May) that in 1939 "British manpower and technology was directed to building a better Europe". This is wide of the mark on a matter of current importance. The truth is that the British government and nation then were (quite properly, it might be thought) concerned almost exclusively with national survival: if in their plight they cared anything for the world beyond these shores, it was for the Empire.

Roger Lake

York