If any readers would like to make a plea themselves but are unsure how the

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If any readers would like to make a plea themselves, but are unsure how, the Georgia Board of Pardons can be contacted by phone (001 404 656 5651).Yours sincerely,A WHITTINGTONSheffield,South Yorkshire4 April. Sir: The critique of A J. P Taylor by Gareth Stedman Jones uses arguments which are questionable on two grounds. First, the implication that historians should have a good political agenda (in this case, to "assuage traditional English mistrust of all things German") is a dangerous one. Recent political pressure on British historians to foster the sense of national identity was not, I imagine, favoured by Dr Jones himself. Second, the value of the concept "great historian" itself seems dubious, like that of "great people" generally.Modern society cuts people down to size, and no longer expects or concedes heroic stature.

If Mr Ingram is innocent, his execution would be a crime as great as that of which he stands accused. Aside from this is the agony that Mrs Ingram is now suffering - and which will ever scar her life if her son is executed No mother deserves this anguish. I cannot see that it can ever be wrong to urge humanitarianism and compassion; these are qualities which should inform all human action regardless of international boundaries.Many appeals for clemency to be shown to Mr Ingram have been sent by members of Amnesty international and other Human Rights groups. And surely, in a civilised world, whatever one's views about the death penalty as a means of punishment, it ought to be absolutely unthinkable to proceed with the execution of a person while there remains any question whatsoever as to their guilt. Sir: I find it hard not to take issue with the stance of British diplomats who have argued that there are no grounds for the Prime Minister to intervene in an attempt to save Nicholas Ingram from the electric chair. Mr Ingram stands convicted by due process of law of an appalling crime, but reading the newspaper reports about the case over the last few days, it is clear that doubts about the evidence for his conviction remain.

The customer would therefore end up with a restricted choice of titles, at higher prices, from fewer shops.The Office of Fair Trading last carried out an inquiry into the Net Book Agreement in 1989, when it decided not to refer the Agreement to the Court.It is particularly unfortunate that it has selected this delicate stage in the economic recovery to challenge the mechanism that has encouraged and nurtured what the OFT recognised as "the emergence of national and regional chains dedicated to providing a wide selection of titles and also ensured wide consumer choice throughout the country".Yours faithfully,TIM GODFRAYChief ExecutiveThe Booksellers' AssociationLondon, SW14 April. The vast majority of UK booksellers do not believe that discounting will result in a sufficient number of additional copies being sold to compensate for lower profits on discounted titles. Selective price cutting would inevitably lead to compensatory increases in the price of other books and independent bookshops would be unable to compete with supermarkets which will undoubtedly claim bigger discounts from publishers to fund the price cuts. Sir: "Huge, burly fishermen in Cornwall" are not "grizzled Anglo-Saxon frontiersmen" (Ismism; "No 10: reelism", 3 April); they are Celts. Cornwall is a Celtic nation with a distinct identity from neighbouring England. For grizzled Anglo-Saxon frontiersmen, I suggest you try looking in Plymouth. Regards,CHRIS CARTERBirmingham. Sir: The first sentence of your article on the referral of the Net Book Agreement to the Restrictive Practices Court ("OFT moves on book price fixing", 1 April) suggests that this move "could mean lower book prices".