Note 11
" 'The Ka of Gifford Hillary' was rather an exception as frankly I wanted to get off my chest my views about the mess we have been making over our defence during this new atom age, and it seemed to me to lend itself to the type of story that I was writing.  Probably many people like yourself found that part of the book boring, but others seem to have appreciated it a great deal and it is interesting now, nearly two years after I wrote it, to see from last week's white paper that the government is to do virtually what I put in my book.  My complaint is that we didn't do it two years ago, as it took no great brain to see the way things were going and they could by now have saved us many millions of pounds.  Anyhow, I thought the chapters about Gifford and the grave were probably as good as any thrilling stuff that I have ever done."

Letter to R.F. Pearson: 1957