I have read with interest David Ibison's contribution to the 'Devil's Advocate' column (Sunday Morning Post Magazine, October 13) about the issue of the surname that should be given to children. I also noticed that, in order to support his point of view in this complex matter, he thought it would be amusing to insult the people and history of another country.

Everybody knows that the history of Italy is so rich and glamorous that it allows Italian people to accept also its less glorious moments. Besides, Italians don't think that national pride must be defended at any cost.

Mr Ibison, I do not know your nationality, but I am sure that if you carefully read the history of your country, you will not find it immune from some dark moments. On the other hand, although Italy was weakened by a war fought on the wrong side (but we knocked down Fascism), during the last 50 years it has become the fifth world industrial democracy with a per-capita income even higher than that of nations that won the same war.